GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



GEOGRAPHY 
OF FRANCE 



By 
RAOUL BLANCHARD 

Professor of Geography, University of Grenoble 
French Exchange Professor, Harvard University, 1917 

and 

MILLICENT TODD 

Lecturer in Geography to A. E. F. School Detachment 

University of Grenoble, 1919 



RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 
CHICAGO NEW YORK 



Copyright, 19x9, by 
Rand McNally & Company 



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Utb K 19(9 




©Ci.A561087 



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THE CONTENTS // 

PAGE 

The Preface 9 

A Foreword 13 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER 

I. Structure and Relief 17 

II. Climate and Vegetation 24 

NATURAL REGIONS 

III. The Mediterranean Region 31 

IV. The French Alps 37 

V. The Jura 44 

VI. The Depression of the Saone and the Rhone . 48 

VII. The Massif Central 56 

VIII. The Pyrenees 68 

IX. The Basin of Aquitaine 74 

X. The Massif Armoricain ........ 84 

XI. The Paris Basin: Plains of the South and 

THE Northwest 95 

XII. The Paris Basin: The Nord; Flanders, 

Artois, Picardy 107 

XIII. The Paris Basin: The Plateaus of the 

Ile-de-France 118 

XIV. The Paris Basin: Champagne 123 

XV. The Paris Basin: Lorraine 129 

XVI. The Vosges 138 

XVII. Alsace-Lorraine 141 

XVIII. Paris 148 

5 



THE CONTENTS 6 
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX. Coal 159 

XX. White Coal 164 

XXI. Metals and Metallurgy 169 

XXII. The Textile Industry 175 

XXIII. The Industrial Regions i8t 

XXIV. Wheat [ . . 187 

XXV. Cattle 192 

XXVI. The Vine 198 

XXVII. Transportation Routes 206 

XXVIII. The Colonial Empire 212 

A Pronouncing Index 219 

The Index 229 



A LIST OF THE MAPS 

PAGE 

Europe in IQ14 End Sheet 

r 

A Structural Map 19 

The Mediterranean Region . 32 

French Alps, Jura, Sa6ne-Rh6ne Depression 38 

The Massif Central 57 

The Pyrenees and the Basin of Aquitaine 69 

The Massif Armoricain 85 

The Paris Basin: Plains of North, Center, and South . . 96 

The Paris Basin: Northern Battle Fields, Ile-de-France, 

Champagne 112 

The Paris Basin: Lorraine, Plateaus and Cotes .... 130 

Cross-Section of Cotes of Lorraine . 131 

Lorraine and Alsace 135 

Paris 150 

Coal Deposits 160 

Metallurgy Centers 170' 

Textile Centers 177 

Principal Wheat Regions . . . . 188 

Principal Cattle Regions 193 

Principal Wine Regions 200 

Waterways 208 

Europe in IQIQ End Sheet 



^^The features which have produced French unity 
and have made France a world-center of civilization 
have a geographic foundation. Physically France is 
made up of basins fringing plateaus of old rocks. 
A happy distribution of lowlands has provided 
avenues through which far-spread influences have 
penetrated the country. Up the sunny corridor of 
Provence and Burgundy and through the narrow gate 
of Carcassonne came the visions of Mediterranean 
civilization to brighten the cloudier northern basins. 
The gates of Metz-Verdun, the Meuse-Sambre, and 
that of Ypres gather up roads from Central Europe 
and from Asia beyond. Then there are the ways of 
the sea. The channel, that passed on Gallic civiliza- 
tion to Britain, gave the northerners an entry to France. 
The way of the open sea, Brittany, is one of those 
Celtic lands whose contributions to the life of Western 
Europe have been little appreciated as yet. 

"The meeting point of these roads is the Paris Basin, 
and there have met and blended the ideas and ideals 
that have traveled along them. And from the rich 
interweaving has been created the national spirit, of 
which the high expression is the Frenchman' s ability 
to keep in sympathetic touch with the ideals and 
thoughts of other nations. '^ 



THE PREFACE 

It is difficult to pique the curiosity of the public with 
the word "geography," when for so long it has meant 
arid lists of countries, rivers, mountains, plains, and 
cities, forced as so many isolated facts into a child's reluc- 
tant mind. Such it is no longer. But the modern 
geographer finds himself confronted with a problem : how 
is it possible to convey an idea of the changed character 
of geography while using the same old label? It has 
become a university study, with wide knowledge as a 
prerequisite. It is a live, alluring, suggestive subject, 
yet still we continue to call it "geography" for lack of a 
better term. 

Like other sciences, geography has gradually l^een 
taking shape during the last thirty or forty years, encoun- 
tering many obstacles by the way. Specialists in other 
branches have objected that it tends to overestimate the 
importance of environment; or that it is too diffuse, con- 
cerned with too many vague generalities difficult if not 
impossible to define. It is asked what the field of geog- 
raphy really is, what its subject-matter, what its aim. 
In France much has already been done to answer such 
questions. The science has been developed, yet at the 
same time made more exact; elaborated, yet clarified. 
The outcome is the French School of Regional Geography. 

The French geographer begins with a tabula, rasa. His 
mind is as unprejudiced as a photographic plate. He 
understands the laws of physiography, of course, and 
climatology; he is awake to life responses, both past and 
present. But, confining himself to a given region, he is 



lo THE PREFACE 

content to accumulate knowledge. He studies natural 
factors influencing man, human factors touched by nature. 
His is a science of relationships and explanations. With- 
out theories as to what he should expect to find, without 
attempting to establish laws, he studies facts as they 
present themselves. With what facts, then, is he 
concerned? What is meant by the term "regional 
geography"? 

As the name would indicate, it is the study of "natural 
regions." When a botanist uses that term he refers to 
characteristic types of vegetation within a given region, 
a geologist to rock formations, a physiographer to drain- 
age systems and other surface features. But each is 
occupied with only a single aspect of the region. The 
geographer, on the other hand, takes a locality distin- 
guished from its neighbors by relief, soil, climate, vege- 
tation, or a combination of several of these features, 
studies each in turn, then describes the place as a com- 
plete and living whole. Nothing is important except in 
so far as it contributes to this end. Next, natural con- 
ditions influencing human activities are taken up, and 
lastly, man's adaptation to such conditions. What use 
has he made of the means at his disposal? How far can 
his various activities be accounted for by the conditions? 
Other branches of study may deal with many of the same 
facts in the same region — geology with structure, agri- 
culture with soils, economics with raw materials and manu- 
factures — but geography makes the synthesis, connecting 
divergent sorts of information, and explaining human 
occupations in the light of all these conditions. 

Thus geography is seen to be primarily not descriptive 
— though it needs the art of such a master as Vidal de la 



THE PREFACE ii 

Blache, the founder of the modern school of French 
geography, to show it as its best — but largely explanatory. 
It does not hold that natural endowments can always 
create a local activity. It cannot always even explain. 
But J or a given region it shows to what degree man and 
his environment affect each other — for natural conditions 
unquestionably form the frame within which he is obliged 
to act. With such ideas in mind, we find the old word 
"geography" vitalized with new meaning. 

A distinctive feature of the French school is that in 
every case the region chosen is sufficiently restricted to 
make a thorough, complete study possible. There are few 
countries so small or so uniform as to be composed of but 
a single natural region. Such a country as France, for 
instance, must be divided into a dozen or more parts, to 
each of which the method of study is applied afresh from 
beginning to end, the emphasis on different stages varying 
according to necessity. At least ten books of over 500 
pages each have already been written about regions of 
France. One of the best known is "La Flandre" by 
Professor Raoul Blanchard of the University of Grenoble. 
To Professor Blanchard also is due the credit of being a 
pioneer in a specialized branch of regional geography 
known as urban geography. The development of so 
artificial and so localized a growth as a great city is shown 
to be preeminently dependent on physical factors, its 
situation, site, natural resources, transportation facilities, 
and so on explaining in large part its pursuits. One of the 
first works on urban geography to appear was a study of 
Grenoble published by Professor Blanchard in 19 10. 

"Geography" may be considered a blanket term. 
"Physical geography," "human geography," "economic 



12 ^ THE PREFACE 

geography" are all included in the study of a given region, 
each contributing to an understanding of the whole. No 
country is without interest; the most repellent, the most 
monotonous holds the attention merely by challenging an 
explanation of why it should be repellent or monotonous. 
The battle within a given region between man and nature 
— in which man's success depends on his understanding 
his adversary, submitting to her requirements in order 
gradually to transform her and make her obey him in the 
end — this is the subject-matter of regional geography. 
It may be classed with the humanities; in fact, in French 
universities it is taught in the Faculty of Arts and Letters. 

This book, a brief summary of the geography of France, 
is intended to show the methods of regional geography, 
using by way of illustration the country where not only 
detailed studies of many regions have been made, but 
where the subject itself has been most extensively devel- 
oped. There is no French edition. The book was written 
after the armistice for the American Expeditionary Force 
and is for the first time appearing in the United States. 

It is hoped that it may prove to be another link in the 
chain binding France and America together by deeper 
understanding, and that it may help toward a realization 
of that entente intellectuelle which at^ the present time is 
occupying the attention of both French and American 
educators. 

MiLLicENT Todd 
Medomak, Maine 
September y iQig 



A FOREWORD 

France is an extremely varied country. Within 
an area of only 207,054 square miles there is almost 
every kind of soil, a most diversified structure, 
and a topography including all forms and all eleva- 
tions up to 16,000 feet, thereby exceeding in altitude 
the height of the Rocky Mountains of the United 
States. 

In passing from the Alps to the Atlantic Ocean, 
and from north to south, one encounters all varieties 
of climates ranging from the Arctic to the subtropi- 
cal, each with its characteristic types of vegetation. 
This of course implies widely differing agricultural 
possibilities. 

Moreover, bordering as it does on two seas, and 
having easy access to the continent in all directions, 
France is the connecting link between the principal 
races and civilizations of Europe. It has assimilated 
racial elements as dissimilar as Greek, Phoenician, 
Gallic, Latin, Germanic, all of which long since have 
melted into the mass of its prehistoric peoples, 
thus forming the most uniform and at the same 
time the most composite nation in the world. 

We now propose to study this variety and this 
unity of France. In order to do so, after a glance 
at the essential physical characteristics of the 
country, we shall take up its natural regions, giving 

13 



14 A FOREWORD 

especial attention to those which have been the 

scene of the Great War. We shall then study the 

principal forms of the economic life of the country, 

and conclude with a brief chapter on the colonial 

empire of France. 

Raoul Blanchard 

University of Grenoble 
August, igiQ 



INTRODUCTION 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

CHAPTER I 
STRUCTURE AND RELIEF 

Structure and relief. The territory of France is 
composed of rocks belonging to all the great geologi- 
cal ages. It has high mountains of recent origin, 
low worn-down massifs,^ more or less lifted and 
transformed by the upheaval which formed the 
recent chains, and deep, wide basins spreading out 
between these massifs and these mountains. 

Hence the chief factor in the topography of France 
is this great upheaval which took place in a past 
geological age. The chains of mountains in the 
east and southeast, Alps and Pyrenees, recently 
uplifted, geologically speaking, during that uplift 
crowded and jostled and transformed the whole of 
the preexisting surface of France, both old moun- 
tain masses and intervening basins. Obviously the 
regions nearest the center of action must have been 
more uplifted and more transformed than those at 
a distance. So it appears that this movement of 
Alps and Pyrenees is the key to a complete under- 
standing of the surface relief of France. 

1 For lack of an English equivalent, massif will be used to indicate a 
mass of ancient mountains which were leveled by erosion and subse- 
quently lifted by a movement of the ground. 

2 17 



i8 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

The high mountains. In the east and southeast are 
found the high mountains of recent origin. They 
are a part of great foldings which occurred in the Ter- 
tiary Age around the Mediterranean and even across 
southern Asia as far as the Pacific. In France 
they include the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Jura. 

The Pyrenees. A little older than the Alps, the 
Pyrenees were lifted across the middle of a vast 
basin which extended from the center of France to 
the center of Spain. They consist of great recum- 
bent folds inclining toward the north, the margin of 
which, confronting France, forms a high wall whose 
mean elevation ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 feet. 

The French Alps. Sweeping from Nice to Vienna 
is a great arc of mountains whose western extremity 
composes the French Alps. In France they have a 
north-south direction. They comprise various types, 
including continuous outer chains, from 3,000 to 
7,000 feet in height, called Pre- Alps, and back of 
these, the high mountains 10,000 to 14,000 feet in 
height — an ancient rock- wall which somewhat ob- 
structed the westward thrust of the big folds welling 
up from the inner boundaries of the chain. On 
an average, the French Alps consist of a series 
of mountain chains from 60 to 90 miles in width. 

The Jura. The Jura is the outermost division of 
the Alps, to which it is joined at the south. This 
division describes an arc about 30 miles in width, 
higher on the east whence the folding-stress came, 
and attaining an elevation of about 5,000 feet. 



STRUCTURE AND RELIEF 



19 



The upheaval of these mountains profoundly 
shook France throughout its length and breadth, 
molding the surface anew to its farthest limits. 




IRECENT MOUNTAIN 
\ AREAS 

ANCIENT MOUNTAIN 
AREAS 



A Structural Map 



The ancient massifs. These so-called massifs are 
but the remains of high mountain ranges which 
used to cover most of French territory. Worn 



20 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

away by erosion, they were reduced to mere stumps, 
between which deep basins were hollowed out. 
The thrusts of the Tertiary Age affected these 
fragments, shoving them up again and distorting 
them considerably. They are more lifted and more 
difformed toward the southeast, in proportion as 
they are near to the Alps and the Pyrenees. 

The Massif Central. Nearest of all to the recent 
chains is the Massif Central; consequently it is 
the massif that underwent the most complete resur- 
rection. Its southeastern front, facing the Alps, 
was lifted to form a kind of wall whose altitude 
is more than 5,000 feet above the Rhone, falling 
off by degrees toward the north and the southwest. 
Back of this precipice, the plateau, through which 
the Alpine movements advanced with difficulty, 
was broken into blocks, some of which sank, while 
others were raised. Prolonged eruptions also took 
place, piling up volcanic mountains here and there. 
So this central part of the massif, with its deep 
depressed basins overtopped by fragments of the 
original rock-mass, which in turn are surmounted 
by volcanoes and lava-flows, is a region of unlike 
parts where elevations vary from 1,000 to 6,000 feet. 
On a small scale it recalls the highlands of Idaho 
and Utah. Toward the west and the southwest, 
on the other hand, the Massif Central, less disturbed 
by the Alpine thrust, is only a plateau sloping 
gently and evenly down to the surrounding plains. 

The Vosges. Near the Jura are the Vosges, an 



STRUCTURE AND RELIEF 21 

older group of mountains, also extensively modified. 
They were formerly a part of the German Black 
Forest. The entire massif, very much uplifted, was 
cut in two by a falling-in like those in the Massif 
Central. In this depressed area the plain of the 
Rhine was gradually filled in. Hence the Vosges 
look abruptly down upon the plain of Alsace from a 
height of more than 3,500 feet, while they slope 
gently toward the northwest, merging at last with 
the plateau of Lorraine. 

The Ardenne. Situated much farther north, the 
ancient area of the Ardenne felt the effect of the 
Alpine movements much less. The original mass, 
however, was somewhat lifted at the south, where 
its height ranges from 1,600 to 2,300 feet, thence 
descending gradually toward the Belgian plain. 

The Massif Armoricain. Lastly, the vast Massif 
Armoricain, which occupies all the western part of 
France, was hardly lifted at all. Yet in comparison 
to near-by basins, it is a region of high land, where 
the elevation toward the east is more than 1,300 
feet, reaching a height almost as great in the interior 
of Brittany. But it is not so much the topography 
as the nature of the soil, rugged and infertile as 
it is, which distinguishes Brittany from the sur- 
rounding basins. 

The basins. Between the mountains and the 
ancient massifs extend the basins which already 
existed in previous ages, but whose characteristics 
were intensified by the last movements of the earth's 



22 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

surface. As would be expected, they are larger and 
more open the farther they are from the mountains. 

The Depression of the Saone and Rhone rivers. 
Between the Alpine chains (Alps and Jura) and the 
Massif Central is a deep north-south depression 
crowded in between the mountains, more a passage- 
way than a valley — the Depression of the Saone and 
Rhone rivers. Midway in its length, at the place 
where the Alps reach nearest to the Massif Central, 
the valley becomes a narrows; at the south and at 
the north it widens into the plains -of Provence and 
the plain of the Saone. The whole forms between 
the Mediterranean and the Vosges an excellent 
thoroughfare whose elevation is hardly 600 feet at 
a distance of 300 miles from the sea. 

The Basin of Aquitaine. Spreading out between 
the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, and the Massif 
Armoricain is the Basin of Aquitaine, much larger 
and with a wide expanse on the Atlantic Ocean. 
Its lowest part, between the platforms sloping 
from the Massif Central and the plateaus adjacent 
to the Pyrenees, is a wide groove — less than 300 feet 
above sea-level, reaching from the Atlantic to the 
Mediterranean — in which all streams unite to form 
the Garonne River. 

The Paris Basin. Lastly, the vast Paris Basin 
occupies all the northern part of France, from the 
Massif Armoricain to the Massif Central, the 
Vosges, and the Ardenne. It even extends across 
the Channel, being continuous with the lowlands 



STRUCTURE AND RELIEF 23 

of the south of England. Without obstruction it 
connects with the broad Anglo-Flemish basin on 
the north whose center is still * occupied by the 
North Sea. In contrast to the Basin of Aquitaine, 
it has the form of a saucer with its lowest level 
at Paris, rising from .,that point in all directions. 
This entire region is composed of plains or pla- 
teaus of slight elevation, peculiarly adapted to 
human needs, with easy access to the sea as well as 
to the other basins. The latter is an especially 
significant fact, for the most characteristic feature 
of the relief -and structure of France is that the 
different basins fitting in around the mountainous 
regions easily communicate with one another. 
Between the Vosges and the Ardenne the Paris 
Basin meets the plain of the Rhine; between the 
Vosges and the Massif Central it joins the Saone- 
Rhdne valley by the. wide so-called "saddle" of 
Burgundy; between the Central and Armorican 
Massifs the saddle of Poitou connects it with the 
Basin of Aquitaine, and the latter, by the saddle 
of Lauraguais, communicates with the lower valley 
of the Rhone. None of these saddles has an ele- 
vation of more than 1,300 feet; several are not 
over 650 feet high, and thus, traveling from north 
to south and from east to west, it is very easy to 
pass between the highlands or to avoid them alto- 
gether. It appears, therefore, that its diversity of 
structure and rehef does not stand in the way of 
the complete physical unity of France. 



CHAPTER II 
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 

Bordering both the Mediterranean and the 
Atlantic, France shares the cHmates of both. Yet 
its irregularities of relief are such that if the climate 
of France is, on the whole, mild and damp, there 
are nevertheless various modifications, as one goes 
from north to south, and especially from east to 
west. 

Mediterranean climate. In its most decided 
form the Mediterranean climate is found along the 
shores of the Mediterranean, partly owing to the fact 
that the Mediterranean region is the most isolated 
of any in France, shut in by the mountainous areas 
of the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, 
and communicating with other regions only by the 
saddle of Lauraguais and the narrows of the Rhone. 
The distinguishing features of the Mediterranean 
climate are very different from those of the Atlantic 
climate. 

Dryness is its principal characteristic. The Medi- 
terranean climate has an absolutely dry season, 
summer. From the beginning of June to the end 
of September rain is extremely rare, and often 
there is none at all. Even during other seasons 
rains are violent but short. There are 55 rainy 
days at Marseille (English, Marseilles), one-fourth 

24 



CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 25 

as many as at Brest (200). The atmosphere is 
almost always clear, the sky cloudless, and fogs are 
unusual. Moreover, the temperature is high; sum- 
mer is warm, winter is mild. Yet the cold can be 
quite severe, except in certain favored places — Nice, 
for example. In winter a dry, cold north wind, the 
mistral, frequently blows in Provence and accen- 
tuates the dryness. 

Vegetation has adapted itself to this climate, 
equipping most of its plants to resist drought. 
The trees have thick evergreen leaves, the live 
oak, olive, cypress, Aleppo pines, and woody shrubs 
being armed against evaporation with leaves that 
are small, hard, and varnished. Beautiful forests 
are rare; they give place to thickets of brushwood 
(garrigue) and scrubby growth {maquis). Agri- 
culturists have to resort to irrigation, which gives 
magnificent results. 

This Mediterranean climate of France is the 
same as that of southern Italy, of Greece, and of 
southern California. 

Atlantic climate. Except the Mediterranean re- 
gion, the entire area of France is under the influence 
of the Atlantic Ocean, which supplies it with abun- 
dant rainfall and moderates the cold. Nevertheless 
the altitude of the mountainous regions and espe- 
cially the distance from the sea give rise to many 
varieties of climate, forming bands almost parallel 
to the ocean; that is to say, extending from north 
to south rather than from east to west. 



26 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Breton climate. Most under the influence of 
the Atlantic is the Breton climate, covering nearly 
all of the Massif Armoricain, surrounded as it is 
on three sides by the ocean. Within the confines 
of this climate everything is equable, temperature 
as well as humidity being almost uniform. There is 
no winter and almost no summer. Under the soft- 
ening influence of the sea the temperature never 
descends below the freezing point. At the western 
extremity of Brittany, Roscoff and Brest have a 
December temperature as mild as that of Nice. On 
the other hand, summer lacks heat. The temper- 
ature of Brittany in July is much lower than that 
of Geneva and Strasbourg. Humidity is very high; 
rain falls at least every other day in fine, gentle, 
interminable showers. The atmosphere is mild and 
always misty. In this country of green meadows 
and apple orchards, the vine cannot prosper for 
lack of the sun's light and heat. 

Parisian climate. Back of Brittany, throughout 
almost the entire Paris Basin there is a transition 
climate which may be called Parisian. From the 
saddle of Poitou to the plains of Flanders, from 
Normandy to Lorraine, the climate is homogeneous 
and temperate. There is a winter and a summer, 
but the cold never lasts long and the heat is always 
moderated by rain. The region being so low, the 
rainfall is slight, although rainy days are frequent 
(150 at Paris and Lille). The least elevation, giving 
shelter from the cold winds and concentrating the 



CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 27 

sun's warmth on a slope with a good exposure, is 
enough to change the chmate completely, for here 
everything is finely adjusted. Hence the Parisian 
climate, favorable to the cultivation of cereals on 
^a large scale, also permits the raising of grapes on 
the well-sheltered slopes of Touraine, on the cliffs 
of the Ile-de-France, and even on the hillsides about 
Paris. 

As one passes inland, the seasons become more 
and more marked — the summers hotter, the winters 
colder. But the rainfall, contrary to what might be 
expected, becomes more and more abundant, the 
increased elevation forcing the ocean clouds which 
have slipped across the plains to condense their 
humidity. 

Aquitainian climate. Throughout the climatic 
zone which extends diagonally from the Pyrenees 
to the Vosges, there are great differences. Toward 
the southwest, within the area covered by the 
Aquitainian climate, the Basin of Aquitaine has mild 
winters and hot summers like those of the Mediter- 
ranean region. In contrast to the latter, however, it 
is very humid, especially in summer. Consequently 
there is a vigorous, lush vegetation, born of heat and 
dampness. Beautiful trees with delicate foliage grow 
here, walnut, almond, chestnut, and fruit trees. There 
are luxuriant vineyards, and corn or maize is the 
characteristic crop. The same climate is found 
again farther east, in the deep valleys of the Massif 
Central, the Northern Alps, and in the Plain of the 



28 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Saone. In the midst of harsh mountain climates 
these depressions with their mulberry and fruit trees 
recall Lombardy and certain of our Gulf states. 

Lorraine climate. Finally, as one approaches the 
Rhine, the summers are still hot but the winters are 
severe, as in South Germany. In this region of 
Lorraine, though the cold season is dry the summer is 
damp. Nevertheless southern touches enter even 
into these localities. Chestnut trees penetrate into 
Alsace; the vine, thanks to the heat of summer, 
grows on the hillsides of Lorraine and adorns the 
foothills of the Alsatian Vosges. 

Thus the climate of France shows a happy com- 
bination of continental and oceanic influences as 
well as of northern and southern elements. Con- 
sequently the soil of France lends itself to a great 
variety of products. Also on this account as much 
as because of the varied topography, an extraor- 
dinary variety of natural regions results, each region 
distinct from the other, yet all closely connected 
by a thousand geographical and human points of 
resemblance. 



NATURAL REGIONS 



CHAPTER III 
THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 

Sister of Greece, southern Italy, and Algeria, the 
Mediterranean region of France is a country of 
sunshine and merriment, picturesque, varied, and 
rich. Its remarkable individuality is due to several 
causes; first, to its well-marked boundaries, almost 
everywhere mountains and sea; next, to its calm 
blue waters — the means of approach of many suc- 
ceeding civilizations — -contrasting with the rugged 
shore; but especially to the influence of a hot, dry 
climate engendering a rather special vegetation. 
With its ancient Greek cities, its Roman ruins, and 
its buildings of the Middle Ages, it undoubtedly is 
the most historic part of France, yet at the same 
time the gayest and the youngest. 

On the whole, the Mediterranean region is much 
diversified; at the west there are the low plains of 
Languedoc, at the east the hills of Provence, at the 
south the island of Corsica. 

The Plains of Languedoc. The material which tor- 
rential streams, swelled to formidable proportions 
by Mediterranean storms, have torn from nearby 
mountains (Eastern Pyrenees, Massif Central) has 
accumulated along the shore in many deltas. These 
alluvial deposits, joined together little by little, com- 
pose the plains of Languedoc. This accumulating 

31 



32 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 




'< 

l=-*'|i 






The Mediterranean Region 



THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 33 

process is still going on; the sea never ceases to pile 
up along the shores the masses of sand and gravel 
which are brought down by the strong current of 
the Rhone. So the coast is straight and low, formed 
of bars and sand reefs like those of North Carolina, 
shutting in behind them salt-water lagoons. Ports 
are few on account of lack of shelter, the only one 
of any importance, Cette, being artificial. But 
the alluvial plains stretching out beyond are very 
fertile. Thanks to the hot, dry climate they are 
wonderfully well adapted to cultivation of the 
vine. This activity has developed enormously dur- 
ing the nineteenth century, since railways have 
facilitated transportation of the produce throughout 
the whole of France. Vineyards cover the plains, 
even along the lagoons down to the very edge of 
the sea, crowding out all other crops. In this 
restricted region more than one-third of all the 
wine of France is produced. This grape cultiva- 
tion, carried on scientifically, requires many laborers, 
so the country is densely populated. The large 
cities, Nimes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan, 
enthroned as they are in the midst of vineyards, 
still retain some of the majesty of Rome as well as 
much of the picturesque aspect of the Middle Ages. 
Their present role is to centralize the wine trade of 
the region. 

Provence. Farther toward the east the plains 
merge with the vast delta of the Rhone, including 
the wide, half -submerged expanses of Camargue — 
3 



34 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

not unlike the lowlands of Louisiana — and the dry 
platform of Crau, composed of pebbles rolled down 
from the Alps. Soon gray or whitish hills, clothed 
with sparse vegetation, begin to rise above the 
lowlands, their bold forms brought into relief by 
the limpid atmosphere. Towns or ruins of towns 
perch proudly upon them. This is Provence. 
From the Rhone to the Italian frontier the region 
has numerous chains of hills running in an east- 
west direction, their height varying from i,6oo to 
3,000 feet. At the west they are formed of light- 
colored limestones or sandstones. Farther toward 
the east, the Maures are darker and adorned with 
pines, while still beyond rise the bold red-porphyry 
summits of the Esterel, their deep red tints making 
a marked contrast with the blue sea. Spread out 
between these chains are little plains composed of 
reddish soil, where the mildness of the climate 
makes possible the growing of olives, also of grapes 
and various other fruits. These products are the first 
of the season sold in Paris. Irrigation gives magificent 
results. Here also bauxite, from which aluminum 
is manufactured, is extracted from the soil. 

Yet the most richly endowed part of Provence 
is the coast, thanks to the indentations and bays 
made by contact of mountains and sea, thanks also 
to the charm of the climate, softened by the sea; in 
addition it is shut off from the north by the wall of 
the Alps. At the west, the port of Marseille, near 
the valley of the Rhone, is the gateway of France 



THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 35 

toward the Mediterranean as well as the point of 
departure for travelers going to North Africa, the 
Orient, and the Far East. It is also a great indus- 
trial city, handling the oil-yielding products of the 
colonies besides the cereals of Africa and Russia, 
sugar cane, and chemical and building materials. 
The noisy, active city has more than 600,000 inhabi- 
tants. A little farther east, the great military port of 
Toulon is developing its docks and shipyards around 
an admirably protected harbor. Lastly, beyond the 
Esterel is the beginning of the Cote d'Azur (English, 
Riviera), land of enchantment, where the splendor 
of the mountains meets that of the blue -sea, and the 
delicious climate attracts, as at Los Angeles, hun- 
dreds of thousands of winter visitors. Cannes, Nice, 
Monaco, Menton (English, Mentone), are the centers 
of this region of winter resorts. An important 
industry, year-round production of flowers and the 
transformation of those flowers into perfumes, has 
grown up along these shores where orange and lemon 
trees and certain tropical plants yield plentiful 
harvests. 

Corsica. Corsica is even more rugged than the 
Cote d'Azur. This large island, with an area of 
3,367 square miles, is almost wholly mountainous. 
It has only one narrow lowland plain along its eastern 
shore. Two-thirds of the island, including all the 
west and south, is only a great granite mass, the 
remains of an ancient continent which formerly occu- 
pied the site of the western Mediterranean. This 



36 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

massif lifted by the Alpine thrust is now a wilderness 
of great jagged mountains, some of which attain 
9,000 feet in height. It is the poorest and least 
populous part of the island. The inhabitants, who 
cultivate olive and orange trees as well as cereals and 
early vegetables, live on the valley floors. They are 
beginning little by little to come down closer to the 
sea, from which they used to keep away because it 
was the means of approach of pirates and invaders. 
On the northeast are mountains of schist, of softer 
rock, therefore less elevated. They are related to 
the Alps and inhabited by a dense population living 
largely on the products of the chestnut tree. Here 
is the most active port, that of Bastia. For a long 
time threatened with invasion, Corsica lived in its 
shell, so to speak. It is only just beginning to make 
use of its resources. A sense of security is at last 
leading it to adapt its mode of life to raising the 
Mediterranean crops for which its climate is so well 
fitted, as well as to put itself at the disposal of 
tourists who may come to taste the charm of its 
soft airs and enjoy the beauty of its landscapes, its 
rugged red mountains, and its blue gulfs. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FRENCH ALPS 

North of the Mediterranean region, and shelter- 
ing it from the cold, rises the great arc of the Alps, 
reaching from Nice to the Lake of Geneva and 
beyond into Austria. Throughout the two hundred 
miles of their extent these mountains are composed 
of two distinct parts, in which structure, relief, 
climate, vegetation, and human life are totally 
unlike. In the north, from the Lake of Geneva 
to the Massif of Pelvoux, the chain is more regular, 
narrower, the altitude higher, and the climate, under 
the influence of the Atlantic, colder and damper; 
glaciers are plentiful, streams abundant and regular 
in flow, vegetation luxuriant, and the population 
dense. In the south, where the chain of the Alps 
is wider and less elevated, the dryness of the Mediter- 
ranean climate prevails. Watercourses tumbling 
down the arid slopes turn into fantastic, raging tor- 
rents at short notice. This is the land of sheep as 
the north is the land of cattle. Of all the features 
distinguishing the two regions, those dependent on 
climate are the most important; that is to say, the 
humidity of the northern Alps, the dryness of the 
southern. 

The northern Alps. Arranged in belts extend- 
ing, roughly, from north to south, the northern 

37 



38 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 




French Alps, Jura, Sa6ne-Rh6ne Depression 



THE FRENCH ALPS 39 

Alps are high mountains, well watered, verdant, 
and thickly settled. 

Pre- Alps. Toward the west above the valley 
of the Rhone the Pre-Alps form the outer belt. 
They are composed of long lines of mountains 
separated from each other by deep valleys through 
which Alpine rivers flow toward the Rhone. Beauti- 
ful white cliffs tower above smiling valleys where 
clear mountain streams ripple through meadows 
and forests. There are few cultivated fields, for 
man is occupied with forests and herds of cattle; 
he is both cowherd and woodcutter. Beautiful 
lakes, like the Lake of Annecy and the Lake of 
Bourget, occupy deep clefts between the mountains. 
In fact, these Pre-Alps are charming and idyllic. 

Subalpine depression. Back of them, from the 
Swiss frontier to the Pelvoux, extends a long low 
zone called the "subalpine depression," hollowed 
out by streams and ancient glaciers between the 
Pre-Alps and the inner massifs. At a slight eleva- 
tion, rising from 650 to 3,500 feet, the climate is 
that of a low plain with hot, damp summers. On 
these alluvial lands accumulated by the mountain 
streams, vegetation is luxuriant and varied; mul- 
berry trees, the vine, tobacco, corn, and fruit trees 
are cultivated. The subalpine depression is an 
admirable thoroughfare, a sort of long street from 
which roads branch off toward the outside world 
between the blocks of the Pre-Alps, while others 
lead toward the heart of the Alps and toward Italy. 



40 GEOGRAPHY OP FRANCE 

\^ Industries grew up here centuries ago, making use 
of the rocks for cement or lime and the skins of the 
animals for glove manufacture (Grenoble gloves). 
During the last twenty years the utiHzation of the tor- 
rents (** white coal") for power and the production of 
electric Hght as well as for electro-chemical and electro- 
metallurgical products has had a remarkable develop- 
ment. This has attracted to the subalpine depression 
a dense population. At a confluence of wide 
valleys, overshadowed by massive mountain silhou- 
ettes, is situated the capital of the French Alps, the 
city of Grenoble, with 100,000 inhabitants. 

Inner massifs. Just beyond the subalpine de- 
pression on the east rises a mighty wall, unbroken 
save here and there by great rifts of which tem- 
pestuous streams have taken possession. This is 
the chain of the inner massifs of granite, reaching 
in the summits of Mont-Blanc and the Pelvoux the 
greatest altitude in the Alps (Mont-Blanc, 15,780 
feet). Pointed summits and vast domes rise above 
glaciers (Mer de Glace, the Bossons) which descend 
into the valleys among fields and forests down to 
3,600 feet. Here nature is stronger than man, who 
struggles to grow little patches of rye or potatoes on 
the steep slopes or leads his flocks into the high pas- 
ture lands . Nevertheless even in the very deepest val- 
leys hydro-electric plants have been established, their 
thick fumes obscuring the rugged, blackish landscape. 
Inter-alpine world. Following the gorges that 
pierce this shining snow-coyered wall, one penetrate^ 



THE FRENCH ALPS 41 

into the midst of a true Alpine world, molded 
out of the great recumbent mountain folds which 
are piled up behind the rampart of the central 
massifs. High mountains of dark schist or light- 
colored limestone frequently carrying glaciers frame 
deep-set valleys, sometimes contracted into narrows, 
sometimes widening into true basins. The altitude 
still admits of vine cultivation and orchards, but 
the principal resource is cattle raising, which necessi- 
tates on the part of the inhabitants a continual 
rhythmic passing up and down between the valley 
floor and the pasture lands among the summits. 
Hydro-electric plants are more and more capturing 
the high waterfalls. But there are further possi- 
bilities of development here. These valleys pene- 
trating the heart of the mountains lead up to famous 
passes, Mont Cenis and Little Saint-Bernard, over 
which climb the great routes from Lyon (English, 
Lyons) to Italy. The railway from Paris to Turin 
also passes through here. All these advantages 
have attracted a large population to the interior 
valleys, forming a little inter-alpine world like the 
Four Cantons of Switzerland and the Austrian 
Tyrol. 

The southern Alps, In proportion as the northern 
Alps are regular and harmonious, the southern Alps 
are chaotic and difficult of access. Nature here is 
harsh and violent, and the contrast is great between 
the luminous, sunlit sky and the mountain slopes 
crumbling into decay, the streams in their rocky 



42 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

beds and the poor, sparse vegetation. The differ- 
ence is almost as striking as that between the 
mountains of Oregon and those of New Mexico. 

Pre -Alps. The Pre- Alps are extremely wide 
here. But they are no longer the pleasant, verdant 
mountains of the north set in parallel lines, covered 
with thick forests. The topography is rough and 
irregular. Beneath the naked cliffs stretch slopes 
of blackish earth torn apart by chasms, much resem- 
bling the Bad Lands of Dakota. The torrents now 
tumbling through gorges, now spreading out over 
wide spaces, are constantly enlarging their stony 
beds. On the valley floors Mediterranean plants 
can be found, almond and olive trees, but above them 
is only a miserable scrubby growth. These moun- 
tains take on a little charm only as they approach 
the sea, back of Nice, where pine forests adorn the 
slopes. In place of cattle there is only sheep raising. 
Hence these southern Pre-Alps are thinly settled, 
and more resemble the mountains of Algeria or 
Syria than their northern neighbors. 

Inter -alpine world. Back of them we do not 
find the subalpine depression at all, and the central 
massifs are entirely eclipsed, not reappearing until 
we reach the Mercantour in the far south. In their 
place are rugged sandstone or schistose mountains 
whose soil is poor and stony. The regularity of the 
northern Alps appears only in the high interior val- 
leys of Briangonnais and Queyras, whose elevation is 
considerable, and where in forests and high pasture 



THE FRENCH ALPS 43 

lands a vigorous pastoral life goes on. Human 
habitations are found at great heights. The city 
of Briangon, guarding the road to Italy, has an 
altitude of 4,300 feet, and the highest villages of 
the Queyras, with their black wooden houses, reach 
an elevation of 6,700 feet, very- unusual in Europe. 
But intercourse is difficult, and the whole interior 
of the southern Alps would be condemned to com- 
plete isolation were it not for the great transverse 
valley of the Durance. This makes a wide gap 
from Briangon all the way to Provence, through 
which passed the armies of Caesar, and into which 
to-day commerce and civilization are able to pene- 
trate. In this valley the vine can grow up to a height 
of 4,000 feet. Almond and olive trees make their 
way right into the heart of the Alps. Commercial 
cities have sprung up all along this fine highway, 
and industries utilize the furious torrent of the 
Durance to transmit light and power to the shores 
of the Mediterranean. 

Thus the French Alps are a real world in them- 
selves, a world which is wonderfully varied, too. The 
north is regular, elevated, damp, verdant as the 
beautiful Swiss mountains themselves; the south, 
confused, chaotic, rudely picturesque, is the near 
relative of other Mediterranean mountains. But 
the entire region, thanks to white coal, is waking 
to industrial possibilities, and is fast becoming one 
of the busiest regions in France. 



CHAPTER V 

THE JURA 

Not far from Grenoble the Pre- Alps divide, some 
of their folds following the Alpine chain, others 
sweeping out toward the north and forming an 
independent chain known as the Jura. These 
mountains are a detached branch distinct from the 
Alps, to which they serve as a kind of advance 
guard. Held fast at both ends by ancient massifs — 
Vosges and Massif Central — the stress which lifted 
the folds of the Jura was able to spread out more 
in the center, making a kind of arc swollen in the 
middle and tapering at both ends. The chain is 
therefore divided into three distinct parts. Northern, 
Central, and Southern Jura. 

Northern Jura. The compact folds of the north- 
ern Jura are on Swiss territory, narrowing more 
and more toward the confluence of the Aar and the 
Rhine, at which point they disappear. Across these 
low, forest -covered mountains pass the important 
railways joining the Rhine country and northwest- 
ern Europe to Switzerland and Italy. 

Central Jura. Much larger and also much more 
varied is the central part of the Jura. On the west it 
overlooks the plain of the Saone from a rather steep 
front, a cliff deeply indented by valley lobes. ' With 
an admirable exposure above the damp plain, thes^ 

44 



THE JURA 45 

hillsides can produce the sensitive crops which 
have given the locality the name of Vignohle 
(vineyard). Rock salt is found here, and as it is 
mined at the point of contact between highlands 
and lowlands, it adds to the trade of both regions. 
It is in the Vignoble that the cities of the Jura 
are located, the principal one being Besangon. 
Back of this the Jura consists of plateaus in tiers 
from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height, rising toward 
the east. The soil is poor, dry, and usually very 
permeable, so that the plateaus are covered with 
forests. The waters, filtering through the soil, 
reappear as magnificent springs in the hollows, full- 
grown streams from the start. They reach the 
plain through wide gorges alive with industries. 
Finally, at the east, where the effect of the Alpine 
movements was stronger, the compact folds were 
lifted still higher, forming the Montague (mountain) , 
with a height of nearly 6,000 feet. These folds are 
similar in their parallel arrangement to the Appala- 
chians. An abundant rainfall produces dense forests, 
and especially pasture lands, whose cattle are exploited 
by societies of peasants called jruitieres. These are 
ancient cooperative dairy associations which make 
butter and Gruyere cheese. Nor is this all. A very 
special industry has developed here, dependent some- 
what on the severity of the climate. In order to 
make use of the leisure of the long winter hours when 
they are more or less snowbound, the highlanders 
of the Jura have taken up occupations requiring 



46 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

little raw material but much time and careful 
attention. Industries demanding fine workmanship 
have grown up in this way, using wood for making 
pipes and rulers, metals for watches and clocks, glass 
and crystal for optical work. The people also make 
articles of celluloid and horn, and even undertake 
the cutting of precious stones. These industries 
have expanded from the domestic workshop into big 
factories, and now there are quite a number of busy 
little cities in the Montague — Morez, Saint-Claude, 
Oyonnax. It has become the most prosperous as 
well as the most populous part of the Jura. 

Southern Jura. Toward the south the mountain 
folds are again closely pressed together, the plateaus 
disappear, and the Jura is composed as at the north 
of a succession of low chains separated by depres- 
sions. These valleys recall the beautiful Shenan- 
doah of Virginia. As the mountains are lower they 
are more easily cultivated. The vine is found 
almost everywhere. The villages with their flat 
red-tiled roofs already begin to look like the south. 
Industries exist here also, but there is nothing to 
compare with the patient, painstaking work of the 
highlanders of the Haut-Jura. This is the country 
of silk manufacture, controlled by the great houses 
in Lyon. Railways cross the chain through trans- 
verse valleys widened by ancient Alpine glaciers. 
The Paris-Turin line passes through on its way to 
the Alps. Finally, at the extreme south, the Rhone 
crosses the Jura through imposing gorges whose 



THE JURA 47 

steep grades are being made use of by hydro-electric 
plants. Magnificent projects already give promise 
of gigantic factories to be erected in the near future. 

Thus the Jura mountains play an important eco- 
nomic role. Rich in forests and in cattle^ with 
varied and thriving industries, they are also, in 
spite of the difficult terrain, a kind of thoroughfare 
traversed by all the trunk lines, putting western 
Europe in touch with Italy via Switzerland and the 
tunnels of Cenis, Simplon, and Gothard. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE DEPRESSION OF THE SAONE 
AND THE RHONE 

Between the recent mountains (Alps, Jura) and 
the ancient but rejuvenated Massif Central, there 
is a deep depression where the sinking movements 
were going on until a very recent date. At the end 
of the Tertiary Age the northern part was filled 
by lakes and the southern part by a long, narrow 
marine gulf. Both have been replaced by the 
Rhone and its great tributary, the Sadne. Broad 
and spacious in the north opposite the Jura, the 
valley tapers toward the south where it comes 
nearest to the Alps, and thus has two different 
aspects — the plain of the Saone, and the basins and 
narrows of the Rhone. 

Plain of the Saone. From the Vosges to Lyon 
the plain of the Saone forms an elongated depres- 
sion 1 60 miles long and 40 miles wide, with a moder- 
ate elevation varying from 500 to 1,300 feet. It 
was occupied during the Tertiary Age by a great 
lake. This lake was formed once again in the 
Quaternary Age when the opening of the plain toward 
the south was obstructed by Alpine glaciers overflow- 
ing from the Jura. The clays and sands deposited in 
these lakes form the rich, damp, impermeable soil of 
the existing plain. The climate is that of a depression. 

48 



SAONE-RHONE DEPRESSION 49 

Rains are not abundant, being intercepted in their 
westward journey from the Atlantic by the barrier 
of the Massif Central. The temperature, cold in 
winter, is warm in summer, and generates in the 
moist earth a prolific vegetation. Nevertheless im- 
portant differences should be noted between north 
and south. 

Haute-Saone. Toward the northeast, the basin 
is slightly more elevated — hence the name Haute- 
Saone (English, Upper-Saone) — and the lakes oc- 
cupied only the lowest portions of the region. The 
fertile deposits are therefore limited in extent. 
The greater part of the soil is formed of dry lime- 
stones which produce meager crops and scrubby 
forests. As the country is hardly fit even for farm- 
ing, it is thinly settled. But on the border of the plain 
of Alsace, in the open region between the Jura and 
the Vosges which is called the Gap of B effort or the 
Door of Burgundy, accessibility and the presence of 
a small coal basin at the foot of the Vosges have 
stimulated an industrial activity like that of Lorraine 
and Alsace. There are mills for the spinning and 
weaving of cotton, machine shops in B effort, besides 
hardware, bicycle, and autom.obile factories. This 
shows the influence of accessibility on the economic 
development of the plain of the Saone. 

The Bresse. In the middle, a region called the 

Bresse occupies the lowest part of the ancient lake 

bottom. The soil of bluish clay is damp and fertile 

except where the streams that emptied into the lake 

4 



50 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

deposited gravels, forming a soil both dryer and 
poorer in quality. Meadowlands and ponds are 
plentiful, and in this rich earth orchards thrive, also 
cereals, among which corn is the principal crop. 
Groups of houses with their gay red-tiled roofs are 
scattered here and there among the meadows under 
rows of luxuriant trees. Cattle and poultry form 
the wealth of the Bresse, certainly one of the best 
instances of rural opulence in France. Cities are 
infrequent, although the population is dense. They 
are really only agricultural markets scattered along 
the outskirts of the country to facilitate its com- 
mercial relations with the exterior. 

The Domhes. The southern extremity, called the 
Dombes, that part of the plain which was invaded 
by the great Alpine glaciers, rises gently toward 
the south. The glaciers deposited throughout this 
region a thick layer of moraines, making an imper- 
meable soil, by nature infertile. The country was 
wooded for a long time. In order to exploit it, 
the monks in the Middle Ages cleared it and made 
a great number of artificial fishponds. When these 
were emptied, their sites, fertilized by the alluvial 
deposits, were planted with cereals. This procedure 
had but one defect, its unwholesomeness. In this 
marshy region the heat of summer developed fevers 
which made the Dombes one of the most unhealthful 
places in France. In the nineteenth century most 
of the ponds were drained. Roads and railways 
have been opened up and fertilizers imported for 



SAONE-RHONE DEPRESSION 51 

the improvement of the arable land. The Dombes 
is to-day as well cultivated as the Bresse, and the 
state of public health has so much improved that 
it has been possible to reconstruct several of the 
ponds, thus supplying the fish market of Lyon. 
The proximity of that city has had a great influence 
on the agricultural prosperity of the Dombes, which 
has gradually become its chief source of supply for 
cattle and products of the soil. 

Cotes of Burgundy. Along the western border 
of the plain rise the limestone slopes of Burgundy, 
which border the Massif Central as well. Above 
the low, flat spaces little grayish cliffs appear, at 
the foot of which, inclined at a moderate angle, is 
a talus-slope (composed of fragments of the cliffs 
which have broken off and fallen down) . Having an 
excellent southeasterly exposure and a light gravelly 
limestone soil, these slopes are famous for the vine- 
yards which are the pride of the Cote d'Or, Cote 
de Chalon, C6te de Macon. On the plateaus above 
there are only moors or woods; on the slopes the 
well-cared-for vineyards; below, scattered along at 
intervals of less than a mile, the large villages of 
the wine growers, a strong, sturdy population. The 
whole forms a narrow but singularly favored belt, 
more especially as the railways from Paris to the 
Mediterranean pass through here, having reached 
the saddle without obstruction from the Paris 
Basin. Necessarily, at the point where this thor- 
oughfare descends to meet the plain of the Saone, 



•J 



52 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

an important city grew up, Dijon, the ancient 
capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, to-day the capital 
of the wine trade and a central market for the entire 
region. 

There is a bond connecting all these different 
parts of the plain — the Saone itself. The beauti- 
ful river flows from north to south, so wide that 
its peaceful surface is almost as quiet as a lake. 
It has always been an admirable waterway, well 
adapted to navigation, made all the more use- 
ful by engrafting upon it numerous canals which 
lead toward the Rhine, the Moselle, the Marne, the 
Seine, and the Loire. The Saone is like the trunk 
of a tree with many branches, rooted at the south 
where it joins the Rhone in the great city of Lyon. 

The basins and narrows of the Rhone. Here 
the landscape has an entirely different appearance. 
Instead of being a wide plain, the valley is trans- 
formed into a series of narrow defiles linking together 
a chain of basins which expand in proportion as 
they approach the south. 

From Lyon to Tournon the valley of the Rh6ne 
recalls that of the Rhine between Mainz and Bonn, 
but it has more light and color. The mighty river, 
held in between high walls of hard rocks on which 
perch fortresses or little towns adorned with Roman 
or mediaeval remains, gnaws away at the Massif 
Central. At every bend of the river the slopes 
facing south are covered with sensitive crops, peaches, 
cherries, and grapes, which require much care as 



SAONE-RHONE DEPRESSION 53 

well as a benign climate. Making use of the rapid 
waters of the tributaries, the silk industry, as well 
as the woolen, enlivens the little cities snuggling in 
the narrow valley. On each side of the river, rail- 
ways and roads carve out a passageway, bearing 
testimony to the enormous economic importance of 
this valley, the highway to the south of France and 
to the Orient, through which Roman civilization 
first penetrated into Gaul. 

South of Tournon the narrows are found only at 
intervals. Plains expand between them, wider and 
wider toward the sea, framed harmoniously by the 
Pre- Alps and the Massif Central. Little by little 
the southern aspect becomes more marked. The 
heat of summer is intense, and the wind blows about 
little flurries of white dust. Irrigation becomes 
more and more necessary for agriculture, and is 
quite easily practiced, thanks to the water of the 
Rhone and its Alpine tributaries. South of the 
plain of Valence, where cereals are the principal 
crop, the cultivation of strawberries, melons, and 
vegetables on a large scale begins in the plain of 
Comtat, whose products are shipped to Paris, 
England, and Germany. Each field is limited in 
extent but admirably well cared for, protected from 
the cold mistral (north wind) by hedges of cypress 
or by wind shields made of reeds. Mulberry and 
almond trees adorn the plain, olive trees furtively 
seek out the sunny slopes. All along the river white 
cities have grown up, either commercial centers 



54 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

or "halting places" along the Rhdne, cities which 
have remained to this day half Roman, the noble 
outlines of their towers and amphitheaters rising 
above the impetuous rush of the stream — Valence, 
Orange and its Roman theater, Avignon and its 
palace of the popes, Aries and its Roman arenas. 

The mighty Rhone, crowded with islands, is the 
life of this valley, filled with the sound of its sur- 
ging waters. Thanks to the varied character of its 
tributaries, the great river always has enough water. 
Rising in the Swiss Alps, it reaches Lyon as an 
Alpine stream, swelled in late spring and summer 
by melting snows and glaciers. Its larger trib- 
utaries from the Alps, such as the Isere, accentuate 
this characteristic. On the contrary, the Saone, 
river of the plains, has winter floods, while the 
southern tributaries are fullest in the autumn. 
Hence the Rhone, fed by streams differing in origin, 
is never low, and it is without question the most 
powerful river of France. But its grade is so steep 
just below Valence that upstream navigation is 
difficult. It needs to be reconstructed, as it were, 
and this will be one of the great undertakings of the 
near future. There is a project to make use of 
the Rhone at the same time for navigation, irriga- 
tion, and the production of power, 700,000 horse 
power being an average estimate of its yield. When 
this is realized the Rhone will be more than ever 
the life of the country it traverses. 

Situated at the confluence of the Saone and the 



SAONE-RHONE DEPRESSION 55 

Rhone and at the point of contact between the 
plain and the narrows, Lyon has the most remark- 
able location of any city in France. For it not only 
unites the valley of the Saone to that of the Rhone, 
but it is close to the Massif Central, easily 
approached at this place, besides being, near the 
Jura and the Alps. Here the highway from Paris 
to the Mediterranean crosses that from the ocean 
to Switzerland. The Alpine thoroughfares start 
here. Lyon is thus admirably situated from a 
commercial point of view. And trade has led to 
industry, for example, silk manufacture, which Lyon 
directs rather than carries on, for silk is made 
mostly in the vicinity round about the city. Lyon 
has always been prosperous; under the Roman 
Empire it was the capital of Gaul, to-day it is the 
second city of France. With more than 600,000 
inhabitants, it is the metropolis of a vast region 
reaching all the way from the Vosges to Provence. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE MASSIF CENTRAL 

In the very heart of France, facing the Jura and 
the Alps across the valley of the Saone and the 
Rhone, sloping gently toward the Basin of Paris 
and the Basin of Aquitaine with which it finally 
blends, partaking at the south of the Mediterranean 
climate and elsewhere of the Atlantic, the Massif 
Central from a geographical point of view is the 
epitome of France. As a whole, though much 
diversified, it can be divided into three parts, an 
eastern front ending in a precipice above the Saone- 
Rhone depression, a central area of volcanic moun- 
tains and basins, and plateaus at the west and 
south. 

The eastern front. The violence of the Alpine 
thrust was so terrific that the entire eastern edge 
of the massif was forced up, forming a mountain- 
ous ridge which rises very slowly when approached 
from the west, but on the east falls off abruptly 
from a height of 4,500 or 5,000 feet to the Rhone 
valley below. It is really more the edge of a pla- 
teau than a chain of mountains. This series of 
cliffs has two different aspects. Toward the south, 
from the saddle of Lauraguais almost as far as 
Lyon, the precipice is very high, slashed with great 
gorges, the effect of the Mediterranean storms, as 

56 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 



57 




The Massif Central 



58 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

will be explained. It is a true mountain country. 
Toward the north, on the other hand, from Lyon 
to the Morvan, the edge of the plateau flattens out 
into low hills which are easy of access. 

Southern part. The southern part of the eastern 
front of the Massif Central, a border zone 
approximately two hundred miles long, is one of 
the most rugged localities in France. The varied 
rocks — limestone, schist, granite — bulging here 
and there with extinct volcanoes, have been fashioned 
into pointed crests by innumerable torrential streams. 
The Mediterranean autumn storms cause sudden 
downpours of tremendous violence (36 inches in 
24 hours), bringing on such floods that one of the 
rivers, the Ardeche, which is only about seventy 
miles long, can, at any rate for a few hours, compete 
as to volume with the Mississippi. The flanks 
of these mountains are so steep that in order to 
cultivate them the inhabitants have had to build 
a succession of little horizontal stone walls upon 
the hillsides to hold up the tiny flelds, sometimes 
hardly bigger than a pocket-handkerchief. Even 
so, because of the infertility of the soil, crops are 
poor, except on certain valley floors where fine 
orchards can develop, owing to the heat of the 
Mediterranean climate. On the heights, flocks of 
sheep find pasturage, seeking refuge during the 
summer from the burning plains of Languedoc. 

But industries can flourish even in these rugged 
mountains. The streams, thanks to their steep 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 59 

grade, and in spite of their irregularity, supply 
motive power for factories. A few coal deposits are 
worked along the border of the mountains, furnish- 
ing the necessary fuel for the foundries of Alais. 
The southern part of the eastern front, especially 
in the Cevennes and in Vivarais, is a silk country. 
That is to say, silkworms are raised in the deep, 
hot valleys where the mulberry tree grows. The 
fiber of the cocoons is removed and spun in many 
little factories scattered here and there along the 
rivers. It is here and in the near-by valley of the 
Rhone that raw silk for weaving is prepared. Here 
also the skins of animals raised in the mountains 
are worked in large leather factories, while the wood 
and rags of the region are manipulated by famous 
paper mills. This picturesque mountain region is 
thickly populated by a sturdy, prolific race with 
an intense religious faith. A row of industrial towns, 
Alais, Aubenas, Annonay, guards the openings of 
the principal valleys. 

Northern part. Toward Lyon the relief is less 
pronounced. As the distance between the Massif 
Central and the Alps increases, the highlands, hav- 
ing been less lifted, gradually flatten out. The alti- 
tude rarely exceeds 3,000 feet. More recent and 
more fertile soils, limestone and marl, overlie the 
masses of hard rock. This entire front is broken 
at intervals by passes connecting the valley of the 
Saone with that of the Loire. The mountains, 
being less elevated, are more easily accessible. The 



6o GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

vine is cultivated on the outer, eastern slopes. 
Above are fine pastures where the herds of Charolais 
are fattened. Unproductive land is thus reduced 
to a few rugged places, almost entirely wooded. 
The most famous of these rough countries is the 
Morvan, 2,000 to 2,500 feet high, which forms the 
northern boundary of the Massif Central, and from 
which logs are floated downstream toward Paris. 
The depressions dividing the mountains into sections 
contain deposits of coal which are the richest 
in central France. A busy industrial life has grown 
up in these low regions where transportation is easy. 
Toward the south, Saint -Etienne and its suburbs, 
situated between the Rhone and the Loire, use 
the coal for the development of metal industries 
(machine-shop products, war material, firearms), and 
especially for silk manufacture (ribbons and trim- 
mings). It is one of the most thickly settled and 
enterprising places in France. Back of Lyon, the 
entire hilly region of Lyonnais and Beaujolais — 
at Tarare, for example — makes muslins both of 
cotton and of silk. Farther north the coal basin of 
Mont ceau-les- Mines supplies the enormous metal 
works of Le Creusot, which call to mind those of 
Pittsburgh. 

Thus, from one end of it to the other, this border 
of the Massif Central, varied as it is, has great 
economic importance. If it forms a barrier which 
can be easily penetrated only at its northern extrem- 
ity, the development of its streanis and its coal, 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 6i 

not to mention the enterprise of its inhabitants, 
makes it, notwithstanding, one of the most active, 
up-to-date regions in France. 
Mountains and basins of the interior. Back of 

the eastern front, the larger part of the Massif Cen- 
tral, which had already felt the effect of the uplift 
of the Pyrenees to such an extent that its surface 
was undulated from one end to the other, was still 
more affected by the counter-stress of the Alpine 
movements. As it was unable to give way under 
pressure, this great resistant mass was broken into 
fragments, some of which were dropped down, others 
forced up. All along the lines of fracture eruptions 
took place, piling up lavas upon the base rock. 
Hence this region has three different types of topog- 
raphy; fragments of the ancient massif which 
remained intact, the volcanic mountains, and the 
depressed areas. 

The ancient mountains. The lifted portions of 
the original plateau which have not been covered 
by subsequent eruptions appear as round-topped 
mountains (Monts de Margeride, du Livradois, du 
Forez), with heights of about 5,500 feet. Their 
granite soil is not fertile; meager forests, inter- 
spersed with fields of rye, pastures of little value, 
and waste lands cover the slopes. It is the poorest 
and most desolate part of the Massif Central. 

The volcanic mountains. There are two groups 
of volcanic peaks, each of which follows the western 
border of the two principal depressions. Along the 



62 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

more eastern of the two the volcanic region is limited 
in extent, and is confined to the mountains of Velay 
— a row of eruptive mounds and peaks. Along the 
western valley, on the other hand, the volcanic 
trail is much more extensive. The southern vol- 
canoes (Aubrac) are much older than those of the 
center (Cantal, Monts-Dore) and of the north (les 
Puys). Aubrac is only an incoherent mass, while 
Cantal and the Monts-Dore have high crests, peaks, 
and deep valleys, and the Puys (Puy-de-D6me) have 
kept the form of cones or craters and still seem ready 
to belch forth flames or streams of lava. The pres- 
ence of many hot springs (Royat, la Bourboule) and 
of certain grottoes of the chain of Puys still' contain- 
ing carbonic acid gas is evidence of former volcanic 
activity. Rising above the ancient surface, these 
steep extinct volcanoes, from which blackish lava- 
flows like long snakes with crackly skins creep slowly 
down almost into the green valleys below, are one 
of the most picturesque spectacles in France. 

The volcanic highlands are fertile. The rocks, 
when decomposed, make a soil rich in phosphoric 
acid, lime, and potassium. Moreover, they are well 
watered, because they condense the humidity in the 
clouds drifting over from the Atlantic. It follows 
that the pasture lands are exceptionally fine, espe- 
cially on the western slopes, where a famous breed 
of cattle called Salers is raised. The population is 
small, owing to the high altitude. The people are 
known as Auvergnats, are strong and hard-working. 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 63 

and are occupied mostly with cattle breeding. The 
ungainly mountain cities with their houses of black 
basalt rock are famous for great fairs at certain 
fixed seasons. 

The basins. At the foot of the volcanic moun- 
tains the basins extend in two irregular lines, form- 
ing two chains of depressions, those toward the east 
strung together by the Loire,- those of the west by 
the Allier. Very restricted at the south, these 
valleys grow wider toward the north, expanding to 
meet the Paris Basin. In the intervals between the 
basins tl;e rivers have carved deep, narrow gorges 
out of the base rock. The series through which the 
Loire flows, Velay, Forez, and the Roanne plain, is 
the least continuous ; the basins of the Allier — which 
flows through the plain of Brioude, of Issoire, and of 
the Limagne — are less separated by narrows. The 
Loire group is less fertile, because the volcanoes, 
fewer in number, have not enriched the soil with their 
lavas. Exception must be made of the charming 
basin of Velay, a rich country bristling with volcanic 
needles. Here Lafayette was born. On the con- 
trary, the Allier group, where eruptive material has 
collected repeatedly, is extremely fertile. The cli- 
mate, very hot in summer and not too damp, thanks 
to the screen which the mountains spread out toward 
the west, protects the sensitive crops. Limagne is a 
real garden, where fields of grain and of sugar beets 
are intermingled, and orchards and vineyards cover 
the lower slopes. An increasing farm population 



64 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

furnishes the labor necessary for manufactures, such 
as rubber (employing 20,000 persons at Clermont- 
Ferrand), cutlery, and foodstuffs of various kinds. 
Cities have grown up at the foot of the mountains 
in the basins, those along the Loire (Roanne) being 
less important than those along the Allier (Vichy, 
Clermont-Ferrand) . 

Lastly, the basins are commercially important. 
They make it possible, as you come from the Paris 
Basin or from the plain of the Saone, to penetrate 
into the heart of the Massif Central. In this way 
the political influence of Paris has spread toward 
the south. The valley of the Allier has especially 
profited by this, its basins being more numerous 
and closer together. Here the railway from Lyon 
to Bordeaux crosses that from Paris to Saint- 
Etienne, and from Clermont another line threads 
its way among the Cevennes toward the Mediter- 
ranean plains of Languedoc. 

Plateaus of the west and soutli. Those parts of 
the Massif Central farthest from the Alps were 
much less disturbed and altered than the center 
and the east. The south and west of the massif 
retained the form of plateaus sloping gently toward 
the outer edges. Here there are no real mountains, 
although the altitude is sometimes more than 
3,000 feet. There are only table-lands and rounded 
hillocks. A picturesque touch is given by the 
valleys, carved into gorges by the rivers tumbling 
down toward the basins of Paris and Aquitaine. 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 65 

The plateaus of the west. The Limousin is another 
name for the plateaus of the west. These are com- 
posed of wide stretches of rolhng country whose 
gently rounded hillocks grow less and less pronounced 
toward the west. But although the altitude dimin- 
ishes, the granite soil is so infertile that it contrasts 
strikingly with that of the limestone plains in near-by 
basins — one means of distinguishing the Limousin 
from the surrounding country. The topsoil is a 
"cold" layer, as the inhabitants call it; that is, 
it is poor in fertile elements. Crops, mostly rye, 
oats, and potatoes, are meager. The most nutritious 
food is supplied by the chestnut tree, which climbs 
the hillsides to a height of 2,300 feet. The Limousin 
is also a region of grasslands well watered by the 
clouds from the Atlantic, which condense as they 
rise above the hills. Multitudes of little rivulets 
ripple across the impermeable soil, watering the 
pastures where graze herds of cattle, a long-lived 
breed which forms the real wealth of the Limousin. 
But manufactures are not altogether lacking. In 
the north a few small coal beds supply the foundries 
of Montlugon. The waters of the clear streams in 
the deep valleys are used by the tanneries of Saint- 
Junien and the munition works of Tulle. Finally, 
the exploitation of kaolin, the clayey residue from the 
decomposition of granite, accounts for the famous 
porcelain factories of Limoges. Although deep 
gorges make communication difficult and necessi- 
tate high viaducts for the railways, the Limousin 
5 



66 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

is nevertheless a thoroughfare where at Limoges 
the Lyon-Bordeaux line crosses that from Paris to 
Toulouse. Industry and trade have therefore made of 
Limoges the economic metropolis of central France, 
a city of almost 100,000 inhabitants. The people of 
the Limousin are strong and energetic; large num- 
bers emigrate every year to find employment in 
Lyon, and especially in Paris. For more than ^ 
century the masons of the Limousin have built both 
private houses and public buildings in the capital. 
The plateaus of the south. More picturesque 
but poorer still than the western plateaus are 
those of the south. Toward the east is the region 
of the Gausses, a great limestone table-land whose 
soil is dry, whose vegetation is like that of the 
steppes. It is almost uninhabited, being slashed 
by deep gorges, one of which, the canyon of the 
Tarn, with a depth of 2,000 feet below its precipi- 
tous limestone walls, recalls the Grand Canyon 
of the Rio Colorado. Toward the west, the rough 
plateaus of the Segalas, or "rye lands," composed 
of hard, impermeable rocks strewii with piles of 
loose granite boulders, are not unhke the Limousin. 
Life has had to find shelter on the valley floors, 
which are sometimes very narrow and sometimes 
are spread out among the red sandstones into wide, 
well-cultivated depressions where a Mediterranean 
flora has also sought refuge. All intercourse is 
extremely difficult, although there is considerable in- 
dustrial activity. The sheep and goats of the region 



THE MASSIF CENTRAL 67 

furnish milk for the famous Roquefort cheese, 
also the raw materials for the leather factories 
of Millau and the woolen factories of Mazamet. 
On the borders of the Basin of Aquitaine the coal 
deposits of Decazeville and Carmaux account for 
the metal and glass works. In the autumn large 
numbers of the inhabitants go down to the plains 
of Languedoc to sell the products. 

Thus, in spite of its altitude, the Massif Central 
is a busy region. Accessible through the valleys 
of the Loire and the Allier and by the plateaus of 
the west, it does not constitute an obstruction 
between northern and western France and the great 
regions of the southeast. If its agricultural resources 
are important only within the fertile depressions of 
the volcanic area, its manufactures are nevertheless 
prosperous, thanks to the coal deposits around its 
edges, thanks also to its water power, which is being 
constantly developed. The vigorous inhabitants 
have by their labor benefited all the surrounding 
regions. The picturesque beauty of the country, 
as well as the efficacy of the waters of its hot springs, 
attracts many tourists. So the Massif Central may 
be said to constitute one of the greatest reserves of 
power in France. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE PYRENEES 

Unlike the Massif Central and the Alps, the 
French Pyrenees do not form a great region. They 
are but the narrow boundary of a chain of moun- 
tains which attains its greatest development in 
Spain, its width on French soil rarely exceeding 
twenty miles. But the chain is high and steep and 
forms a real barrier. From many points of view the 
appearance of the French Pyrenees is different from 
that of the Alps. Lifted bodily, their folds sloping 
toward the north, the high mountains descend 
abruptly toward the Basin of Aquitaine. There are 
almost no ''advance guards" — secondary chains, 
that is — comparable to the Pre-Alps. The moun- 
tain valleys do not unite in great arteries as in the 
Alps, making the high regions accessible. Each 
valley of the Pyrenees is of very simple construction, 
merely a north-south line straight from the heights 
to the plain below. These valleys, necessarily very 
short, contain streams which never become large 
enough to excavate wide beds nor to cut back very 
far the inclosing walls. Instead of the broad Alpine 
valleys, like the subalpine depression, the Maurienne, 
the Tarentaise, and the valley of the Durance, here 
there is a multitude of little transverse valleys, 
exactly alike, difficult of access and communicating 
• 68 



THE PYRENEES 



69 



MASSIF 



€^-*"' 




ffonceyo' 



f5?>%^'-i^37 




o 



The Pyrenees and the Basin of Aquitaine 



70 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

with each other only by means of high passes. The 
summits have many different forms — finely chiseled 
peaks, heavy rock masses, table-lands ending in 
precipices, and high plains shut in by mountains — 
showing that the chain was eroded, then lifted again, 
and once more attacked by the forces of wind and 
water. 

Since the Pyrenees are lower than the Alps, their 
highest peaks rarely exceeding 10,000 feet, there are 
only small glaciers of little or no importance. But 
the mountains are damper, having a rainfall heavier 
than that of the Alps. They receive the abun- 
dant moisture brought by the northwest winds from 
the near-by Atlantic. Over the cliffs tumble cas- 
cades of pure water much clearer than Alpine 
streams, which are clouded with the waste of the 
schistose rocks. These mountains are dotted with 
little lakes, held by barriers of hard rock which the 
water and ice have not had time to saw through. 
Vegetation is more luxuriant than in the Alps. 
Forests abound, and wherever man has destroyed 
them to make pasture lands for his flocks and herds, 
grass and bushes persistently cling to the soil. If 
they are less imposing than the Alps, the Pyrenees 
have notwithstanding much picturesque charm. 
Toward the east the influence of the Mediterranean 
climate is felt. The mountains are more rugged, 
often with huge, yawning fissures, and though farm- 
ing can be carried on at greater heights than at the 
west, the pasture lands are very inferior and the 



THE PYRENEES 71 

forests are often replaced by. mere scrubby growth 
(maquis). 

The French Pyrenees are therefore to be divided 
into two parts, the Eastern Pyrenees, or those near 
the Mediterranean, and those near the Atlantic. 
The latter, greater in extent, include both the 
Western and the Central Pyrenees. 

Atlantic Pyrenees. The Western Pyrenees. Ex- 
tending from the ocean to the pass of Somport, the 
Western Pyrenees are lovely, verdant mountains of 
moderate elevation. Corn fields reach far up into 
the valleys, and cattle raising is the chief occupation. 
The passage into Spain is so easy that, the two sides 
of the chain were for a long time under the same 
government, the Kingdom of Navarre. A unique 
people, the Basques, inhabit both slopes. Besides 
the route along the shore, there are two famous 
passes, that of Roncevaux, celebrated by the cross- 
ing of Charlemagne, and that of Somport. 

The Central Pyrenees. On the other hand, the 
Central Pyrenees, much more difficult to cross than 
the Alps, form a real barrier, separating France 
from Spain. The valley heads of the gorges descend- 
ing toward the plain are surrounded by high walls 
of rock, as in the amphitheater of Gavarnie, where 
the foliage of the ash groves below forms a striking 
contrast with the high, white walls, over which fall 
ice-bordered cascades. Each of these valleys is a 
little world in itself, filled with crops below, while 
above are pasture lands where flocks from the 



72 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

valleys and droves of sheep from Spain graze during 
the summer. The methods of agriculture and 
cattle raising in these isolated regions are often anti- 
quated. The Pyrenees are not so much exploited 
as the Alps, but they have great charm. The green 
slopes and clear streams are full of quiet beauty. 
Many hot springs, their waters among the most 
efficacious in Europe, are scattered here and there in 
the valleys, at Eaux-Bonnes, Cauterets, Bareges, 
Luchon, etc. Industry is waking up, making use of 
the minerals and the marbles. Utilization of the 
water power is getting under way, and large hydro- 
electric power plants are under construction. The 
people are vigorous and fine-looking, but few in 
number, and cities are scarce, being located only 
where the valleys open into the Basin of Aquitaine. 
Lourdes and Foix form a sort of bond between 
mountains and plains. 

Mediterranean Pyrenees. About fifty miles from 
the Mediterranean another landscape makes its 
appearance. The Eastern Pyrenees are dryer, some- 
times almost arid. Their outlines in the clearer air 
are well defined; one can see farther across the bare, 
rugged summits. Gray takes the place of green as 
the predominant tone. In the west the houses are 
scattered; here they are united in villages built on 
prominent points like fortresses. Contrasts are vio- 
lent; sometimes there are high depressions more 
elevated than those of the Vosges, broad, gray plains, 
in a setting of yellow rock- walls, recalling the high 



THE PYRENEES 73 

plains of Algeria or Utah, sometimes deep, narro\. 
gorges whose bare cliffs half conceal the sensitive 
Mediterranean crops far below. Near the sea the 
hills disappearing beneath the blue waves are bor- 
dered by little coves which recall the shores of Attica. 
This rough country has the advantage of possessing 
two transverse routes, the great passes of the 
Perche and the Perthus, over which one may travel 
without difficulty into Spain. Here, as at the west, 
the two slopes for a long time were under the same 
government. The people also spoke the same lan- 
guage — Catalan. Since these mountain regions are 
more accessible than the rest of the chain, their 
inhabitants are more enterprising, exploiting their 
iron and utilizing the power of their streams. 

Nevertheless, except at the extremities, the eco- 
nomic value of the Pyrenees is inferior to that of 
other French mountains. Their valleys are too 
restricted and too isolated. The great barrier is 
not sufficiently indented to admit of trade of any 
importance. The people are just beginning to com- 
bat these unfavorable conditions by building roads 
wide enough to handle a large traffic between France 
and Spain. Already they have driven two tunnels, 
that of Somport and that of Puymorens, through 
which are to pass the direct routes from Pau to 
Aragon and from Toulouse to Barcelona. With the 
development of hydro-electric power the mountains 
will be transformed altogether. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 

Surrounded by the Pyrenees, the Massif Central 
and the Massif Armoricain, the vast Basin of 
Aquitaine might appear to be identical in structure 
with the Paris Basin. But nothing could be further 
from the truth. The history of its formation is 
entirely different, and it follows naturally that its 
geographical features do not resemble those of the 
Paris Basin in the least. The Basin of Aquitaine was 
originally part of a depression which extended from 
the Massif Central well into Spain. The chain of the 
Pyrenees was thrust up from the middle of this enor- 
mous basin. The result was not only that it was cut 
in two, the Basin of Aquitaine representing only the 
northern half, but also that the upheaval modified 
the topography of the basin considerably. Streams 
rushing down from the recently uplifted mountains 
piled up at their base an immense deposit of alluvial 
material which a subsequent movement of the 
ground seems to have elevated still farther. As a 
result the basin is dissymmetrical. On the north 
it is merely an inclined plane sloping gradually 
away from the Massif Central, while at the south 
it consists of a great alluvial fan spreading from the 
middle of the chain of the Pyrenees toward the east, 
north,. and west. Between these two slopes, a long 

74 



THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 75 

groove conducts the waters of the basin toward the 
Atlantic; it is called the valley of the Garonne. 
Instead of a fiat, saucer-shaped depression like the 
Paris Basin, here there is a furrow. Instead of one 
center this basin has two, one at each end of the 
groove. This arrangement has had a great influence 
on the history of the country as well as on its eco- 
nomic development. Two rival cities, Toulouse 
and Bordeaux, have divided the region between 
them. From an economic point of view one half 
turns toward the east, the other half toward the 
west. 

The Basin of Aquitaine is thus composed of three 
parts, the plateaus of the north, the slopes of the 
south, and the valley of the Garonne. separating the 
plateaus from the slopes. 

The plateaus of the north. The plateaus of the 
north, a sort of platform, backed on the north by 
the Central and Armoricain Massifs, slope gradually 
toward the southwest. They are of limestone 
formation which yields a dry, loose soil, but they 
are frequently covered by more recent rocks, sands, 
and clays, more compact and thus yielding a less 
fertile soil. They are dissected by wide, deep 
valleys, the richness of whose soil added to their 
advantageous exposure makes them the pride of 
the country. The altitude of the plateaus, the 
number of valleys, and the extent of the patches 
of sand make it possible to distinguish several 
different types of country. 



76 GEOGRAPHY OF PRANCE 

Charente. At the northwest is Charente, border- 
ing on the ocean, the lowest of all the plateaus and 
the most dissected. Under the favoring influence 
of the mild and damp marine climate there are 
many luxuriant meadowlands. Cooperative agricul- 
tural societies manufacture a grade of butter so 
superior that it has monopoHzed the Paris market. 
Toward the south the vine grows luxuriantly, and a 
celebrated liquor known as Cognac is manufactured. 
In addition to agricultural industries, there are paper 
manufactures, the pure water percolating through 
the limestone rocks supplying the well-known paper 
mills of Angoul^me. A wide, open country, it is 
easily accessible, and across it passes the highroad 
from Paris to Bordeaux and Spain. The coast used 
to be indented with numerous bays, now mostly 
silted up. The gulfs have been transformed into 
low plains which are wonderfully fertile, along whose 
edges are located famous oyster beds (Marennes). 
From the ends of the promontories a series of 
beautiful islands, such as Oleron and Re, reaches 
out into the sea and forms a protection for harbors 
where the ports are located — Rochefort, and espe- 
cially La Rochelle, which hopes to become the 
Atlantic port of Switzerland. This agreeable, well- 
located region may look forward to a bright future. 

Perigord. Next in line toward the southeast is 
Perigord, less favored by nature. The plateaus, 
being less dissected, are often covered with sand, and 
are therefore wooded more often than cultivated. 



THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 77 

Toward the southwest, in the Double, the soil is 
very poor. Here, as in the Dombes (plain of the 
Saone), ponds were formerly constructed which 
became fever-traps and had to be cleaned up — a 
long-delayed procedure which was not accomplished 
until the nineteenth century. The vineyards of the 
limestone plateau were all destroyed by the phyl- 
loxera during the eighties, but they have been 
replaced by truffle-bearing oaks which have a good 
yield. Fortunately the valleys are admirably suited 
to agriculture. Well sheltered beneath the limestone 
cliffs, in whose caves prehistoric man used to live, 
they enjoy a soft, sunny climate and yield excellent 
vegetables, grapes, and other fruits. In particular, 
the region near Brive, protected on the north 
by the Massif Central, is a real garden, shipping its 
early fruits to Paris by the direct Paris-Toulouse 
railway. 

Quercy. Farther toward the southeast, Quercy 
is a region of still higher and even dryer plateaus, 
real table-lands where fields of grain in the hollows 
are surrounded by poor sheep pastures. All the 
more marked is the contrast with the luxuriant 
valleys of the Dordogne, Lot, and Aveyron, where 
sensitive crops can grow and where the population 
is very dense. 

The northern plateaus of the Basin of Aquitaine 
thus show a notable contrast between their moder- 
ately elevated plateaus and their opulent valleys. 
The same is true of the south. 



7S ■ GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



1 



The southern slopes. The southern slopes of the 
Basin of Aquitaine can be divided into three parts- 
In the center is the great alluvial fan of Armagnac, 
flanked on the west by the plain of the Landes and 
on the east by the lowlands of Haut-Languedoc. 

Haut-Languedoc. The low area which joins the 
Eastern Pyrenees to the southern plateaus of the 
Massif Central is called Haut-Languedoc. This area 
also connects with Bas-Languedoc, adjoining the 
Mediterranean, over the saddle of Lauraguais. It 
is one of the most affluent regions in France, where 
Hfe is easiest. Originally Haut-Languedoc was a sort 
of plateau, but the clayey sandstone composing its 
soil was so soft and the valleys were widened by the 
streams so quickly, that the plateau disintegrated 
and is now represented by only a few high wooded 
strips. All along the slopes and in the valleys there 
is a multitude of little hamlets whose occupants 
cultivate corn and wheat, harvest grapes and other 
fruit, and raise poultry and cattle. Their agricul- 
tural wealth satisfies. Factories do not exist, except 
a few tanneries and woolen mills near the mountains. 
This region with its roads, railways, and the Canal 
des Deux-Mers (Two Seas) connecting the Atlantic 
and the Mediterranean forms a wonderful thorough- 
fare which has not by any means been made the most 
of. So well endowed by nature, abounding in pictur- 
esque old cities like Albi and Carcassonne, Haut- 
Languedoc is not as much exploited as it should 
be — a state of affairs only too common in Aquitaine. 



THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 79 

Armagnac. The heart of ancient Gascony, known 
by the name of Armagnac, is not so well off. The 
great, flat, alluvial fan on which it is situated rises 
to a height of 2,300 feet in the middle, nearest the 
Pyrenees. From that point a great number of val- 
leys radiate in every direction. Toward the east 
they are so crowded together that the streams are 
small and unimportant, while the western valleys 
are wide enough to accommodate some of the largest 
rivers of the Pyrenees. These valleys are well 
adapted to irrigation. Between them the plateau is 
covered with trees, or more often with a scrubby 
growth, touya, upon which the flocks that come down 
from the Pyrenees graze in winter. From the grapes 
which grow on the slopes and valley floors is manu- 
factured a famous liquor, Armagnac brandy. Cereals 
are cultivated, and a breed of horses, called Tarbes, 
is raised. In the rich western valleys are located 
many winter resorts — Pau, for' instance — thanks 
to the mildness of the marine climate and the fine 
views of the imposing chain of mountains. Along 
the shore, where the outermost bulwarks of the 
Pyrenees meet the sea, there are smooth beaches, 
the most famous of which is Biarritz, with its multi- 
tudes of tourists. The only industrial city in the 
Basin of Aquitaine is located near here, the port 
of Bayonne, which produces pig iron from Spanish 
ore with English coal. 

The Landes. Very different from Armagnac is 
the Landes. It consists of a vast triangular plain. 



8o GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

whose base is the coast, rising gradually toward the 
east, where it attains a height of about 300 feet. The 
soil is mostly sea sand which the western winds have 
spread like a great cloak over the ground, leveling all 
the ups and downs of the surface. This sand is con- 
solidated into impermeable sandstone a foot or two 
below the surface, so that water collects on top, 
and the desolate region until recently consisted of 
moors and marshes in which the inhabitants strug- 
gled about on stilts. But this state of affairs has 
been completely changed, thanks to the efforts of 
modern engineering. The invading sand dunes 
along the shore, behind which water has collected 
in large ponds that are entirely shut off from the sea, 
have been anchored by planting trees upon them. 
In the interior, ditches have been dug to dry out 
the marshes, and the waste lands have been planted 
with pine and cork trees. To-day the Landes is 
one vast forest with cultivated open spaces here and 
there, equipped with a dense network of railways 
and exporting in great quantities wood, cork, and 
resin. The region is growing rich and the population 
is increasing, conditions very unusual in the Basin 
of Aquitaine. 

The valley of the Garonne. Between the north- 
ern plateaus and the southern slopes stretches a 
narrow groove, followed throughout its entire length 
by the great river which collects all the waters of 
the basin. This is the valley of the Garonne. Fed 
by streams from mountains almost entirely devoid 



THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 8i 

of glaciers, whose winter snows melt rapidly in 
the spring, the Garonne is necessarily an irregu- 
lar stream, subject to dangerous floods at the same 
time that heavy Atlantic downpours descend upon 
the entire basin. The Garonne is clogged with allu- 
vial material brought by torrents from the Pyrenees, 
which have worn away the soft sandstones of 
Haut-Languedoc, as well as by the streams which 
have traversed the red sandstones of the Massif 
Central. This undependable river with its con- 
stantly shifting channel is not suitable for navi- 
gation, except in its lower reaches, where the tide 
raises its level. It was necessary to build a lateral 
canal beside it all the way to Toulouse, a waterway 
which unfortunately is not well suited to heavy 
traffic. This fact is the more to be regretted since 
the valley is as varied as it is rich. 

The plain of Toulouse. Upstream, between Haut- 
Languedoc and Armagnac, stretches the plain of 
Toulouse, that part of the valley which spreads out 
between the Pyrenees and Quercy. Upon its fertile 
alluvial land are grown the biggest crops of grain in 
southern France. It follows that Toulouse is a 
center of the flour trade. This vast plain, over which 
great clouds of dust are blown about by the wind, is 
densely populated. Except in the regions where the 
river is liable to overflow, villages of mud houses with 
roofs of tile, similar to the adobe houses of Mexico, 
cluster. Wherever the streams can be crossed, 
there are found cities of brick whose streets are 



82 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

paved with round cobbles from the stream bed. The 
largest of these cities is Toulouse (150,000 inhabit- 
ants), situated at the place where the route from 
the Mediterranean over the saddle of Lauraguais joins 
the valley of the Garonne. It is an ancient capital 
whose commerce, as well as its intellectual activity, 
is considerable, but because of insufficient means of 
transportation it has not attained the industrial 
development of which it is capable. 

Agenais. Below Toulouse the valley turns west- 
ward, narrowing as it slips between Armagnac and 
the cliffs of Quercy. Facing south as it does, and 
protected on the north, it resembles a hothouse.; Its 
cultivable land, composed of terraces of alluvial 
material brought by the Garonne, is very fertile, 
but is not of great extent. Agenais is just one 
vast garden. The little cultivated spaces only a 
few yards square, surrounded by plum trees and 
vineyards, produce wheat, vegetables, and tobacco. 
These products form the basis for a not inconsider- 
able trade, the vegetables being shipped to Paris and 
the plums of Agen, rivaling those of California, to 
the entire world. The narrow strip of Agenais is 
densely populated and dotted with little cities. It 
is a contented, happy country — too happy, perhaps 
— where the temptation not to work is great, and 
where the birth rate is decreasing with alarming speed. 

Bordelais. The valley broadens toward the north- 
west, and the tides of the ocean mingle with the 
yellowish, even chocolate-colored, waters of the 



THE BASIN OF AQUITAINE 83 

river, which widens into a magnificent estuary, 
the Gironde. This region, called Bordelais, is given 
over to cultivation of the vine, owing as much to 
qualities of the soil as to ease of exportation. There 
are only vineyards as far as the eye can reach; 
the heavy soils of the valley floor produce the 
rich, dark wines of Palus, the limestone slopes 
near by produce Sauternes, or wines of the cotes, 
and the gravels along the edge of the plateau the 
famous vintages of the Graves (Medoc). In addi- 
tion, the beautiful estuary is well suited to com- 
merce. The port of Bordeaux exports, besides wine, 
stone and lumber from the Landes, and imports 
English coal. Great smelting and chemical plants 
have been built up along the quays. The imposing 
city of 300,000 inhabitants is not only the center of 
the western part of the Basin of Aquitaine, but the 
influence of its trade and industries will shortly be 
felt throughout the entire southwest of France. 

The Basin of Aquitaine thus appears to include 
regions of differing importance, but life is easy and 
pleasant throughout. Unfortunately, the basin 
suffers on account of the defective state of its trans- 
portation facilities, which are not favorable to the 
establishment of industries. It suffers still more 
from an excess of good things, a condition which 
seems to inspire the inhabitants to the least possible 
effort. Nowhere in France is the birth rate lower, 
nowhere is rural depopulation more marked. Herein 
lies a real danger for this richly endowed land. 



CHAPTER X 
THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 

At the western extremity of France the Massif 
Armoricain projects into the sea. Here the rugged 
peninsula of Brittany seems reaching out to meet 
the ocean storms. Surrounded by the sea on three 
sides, Brittany has a long and deeply indented coast- 
line. The marine climate is found here in its most 
extreme form. Continuous rains and an even tem- 
perature explain why the vegetation is mostly grass 
and trees. But this ancient massif is inhospitable 
to man, ill adapted to agriculture, and really livable 
only along the coasts and at its junction with the 
Basin of Paris on the east. Ruggedness and a mild, 
equable climate are its two chief characteristics. 

The Massif Armoricain can be divided into two 
parts. Its western extremity is a peninsula almost 
separated from the continent, while at the east, 
from Cherbourg to La Rochelle, its rocky landscape 
blends with the surrounding plains. The bleak 
character is less pronounced here, and the region- 
shares the more agreeable mode of life of the adjoin- 
ing basins. 

Brittany. Brittany is a peninsula about one hun- 
dred and sixty miles long by seventy miles wide, 
consisting of hard rocks — sandstone, granite, and 
schist. Its soil is thin, its population is hardy and 

84 



THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 



85 




The Massif Armoricain 



86 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

prolific and partly made up of Celts who came over 
from England. Being so cut off from France, it 
remained for a long time aloof, the people even 
speaking a different language, Bas-Breton. The 
tide which rises and falls far up in the innumerable 
sounds and bays along its shores seems to endow 
it with special characteristics. Not, however, that 
Brittany is entirely maritime. Two chains of round- 
topped hills, parallel to the axis of the peninsula, 
extend in an east-west direction a short distance 
from both northern and southern coasts, separating 
the narrow maritime zone called Armor from the 
more extensive interior known as Arcoat. 

Maritime Brittany. The coastal zone known as 
Armor or Maritime Brittany is richly endowed by 
nature. Its wealth is due to three causes, the con- 
figuration of its shore line, its excellent soil, and the 
peculiar mildness of its climate. 

Its coast line is very irregular and is thus com- 
parable to that of the state of Maine. On the north, 
sea and land interpenetrate; that is to say, there are 
long, pointed promontories, deep, narrow sounds, and 
innumerable little islands. At the west, broad, well- 
protected bays face the ocean, one of which, the 
harbor of Brest, communicating with the sea by a 
very narrow strait, makes a wonderful refuge for 
warships as well as merchant vessels. It recalls 
the harbor of San Francisco. The southern shore 
is no less irregular. It has in addition an inland 
sea, known as the Morbihan, sprinkled with islands, 



THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 87 

of which, so the saying goes, there are as many as 
days in the year. The ocean has a tendency to 
fill up the shallows and build barrier-reefs across 
the inlets and from one island to another. The 
harbor of Lorient is not comparable to that of 
Brest, but the entire coast of Brittany is well suited 
to various kinds of seafaring life. Each bay, each 
inlet has its little port, very active at high tide, 
serving as a point of departure for some local fishing 
fleet. Sometimes these fleets consist of small boats 
which do not venture far from land, sometimes of big 
schooners and trawlers which follow the schools of 
sardines along the south shore, sometimes of still 
larger vessels which set out from Saint-Malo or 
Paimpol to fish for cod near Iceland or off the Banks 
of Newfoundland. The fishermen are a magnifi- 
cent race, as numerous as they are hardy and resolute, 
and most of the sailors on French men-of-war are 
recruited among them. The presence of the navy 
yards and the arsenals of Brest, a city of 100,000 
inhabitants, and of Lorient, can be explained both 
by the nature of the coast and by the peninsular 
form of the country. A project is under consid- 
eration for making Brest a great transatlantic port 
to shorten the voyage to the United States, 
toward which Brittany seems to be reaching out. 
Although its eccentric location would apparently 
unfit it for trade, a number of its northern 
ports, Brest, Morlaix, Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Malo, are 
in constant communication with England, which 



88 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

affords the chief market for the farm produce of the 
peninsula. 

For it must be noted that this coastal region is not 
only a maritime country, but is also rich agricul- 
turally, a fact due primarily to seaweeds and marine 
deposits which are brought by the tide, and which 
are excellent fertilizers. Along the northern shore 
farming is made easier because a layer of rich 
loam 1 covers the bare skeleton of rocks. As already 
noted, the climate of the entire coast is so mild that 
there is almost no winter, and southern plants such 
as fuchsias and azaleas can grow outdoors the year 
round. So agriculture flourishes, especially in the fer- 
tile lands of the north. Spring comes so early that 
vegetables raised here, especially in Roscoff, reach 
Paris as soon as those from the Mediterranean region. 

This band of coast is therefore very rich. Every 
summer it attracts hordes of tourists who seek out 
its picturesque resotts, the most famous of which is 
Dinard, near Saint-Malo. Manufacturing indus- 
tries have taken root in Brittany on account of the 
abundant labor supply. Soda is extracted from 
sea weeds, and canning factories put up sea foods 
of various kinds, especially sardines. Thus Armor, 
with its maritime, agricultural, and industrial 
resources, really deserves the name of "Golden 
Belt" which has been bestowed upon it. It is one 

^Limon is a word for which there is no exact English equivalent. 
It is a superficial soil of different origins, always rich, varying in 
depth from a few inches to a few feet. The word "loam" is a free 
translation. 



THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 89 

of the 'most thickly settled regions in France and one 
where the population is increasing most rapidly. 

Inland Brittany. The contrast with the rugged 
interior is great. This is real Brittany, Arcoat, where 
ancient customs and Celtic legends have been best 
preserved. Here the soil is thin and infertile. 
Farming is confined to raising potatoes and certain 
cereals which can be grown on poor land; that is, rye 
and buckwheat. Apple orchards, protected here 
from the ocean winds, are a great asset, especially 
as they furnish cider, the favorite drink of the 
country. But the chief product is cattle, which 
graze in the rocky pastures and on the gorse and 
heather of the moors. The peasants used to work 
on great estates as serfs. They are not so tall nor 
so fine looking as the people near the coasts. They 
live far from each other, in little low stone houses, 
and hygiene is to them entirely unknown. For- 
merly inland Brittany was the poorest part of 
France, and many inhabitants emigrated to Paris 
or to the basins of Paris and Aquitaine. 

But the country is gradually being transformed, 
thanks to the improvement of transportation facil- 
ities. The canal from Nantes to Brest has made it 
possible to obtain lime, a necessary fertilizer. Dur- 
ing the last twenty-five years a network of railways 
has been built all over Brittany, importing fertil- 
izers and exporting the products of the country. 
Cattle breeding has taken a great start. The Breton 
language is fast disappearing, a fact to be welcomed, 



90 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

as it erected a barrier between the peasant and the 
outside world. The younger generation all speak 
French. Progress is shown' everywhere. 

At the two extremities of Brittany natural con- 
ditions are more favorable. Toward the west, 
among the soft schists, the basin of Chateaulin 
almost joins the Golden Belt, while at the east 
the vicinity of Rennes has a fertile soil, thanks 
to the marine sediments deposited in an arm of 
the sea at the end of the Tertiary Age. This basin 
of Rennes has the further advantage of communicat- 
ing easily with both northern and southern coasts, 
and at the same time of not being far from the 
Paris Basin. Rennes serves as a center for this elon- 
gated country, which really has none at all, and also 
as its open door to France. Its traditional r61e 
as capital is thus explained, also its commercial 
development, for Rennes is both the intellectual 
and the economic metropolis of the entire peninsula. 

Eastern part of the Mstesif. East of Brittany 
the Massif Armoricain is less isolated and more acces- 
sible. While preserving the characteristics peculiar 
to its soil and climate, it partakes at the same time of 
those of adjoining regions with which it has always 
been connected for political reasons. It is much 
richer than the interior, being more open and more 
developed as to natural resources. From the Paris 
Basin, near at hand, it is differentiated by its rug- 
ged topography, its dark-colored rocks, and the 
abundance of trees planted in thick rows around 



THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 91 

its fields and meadows. It is distinctly the type 
of landscape known in France as the ''west." But 
it is a west which is domesticated and easy of access. 
From north to south the following divisions may be 
made: Lower Normandy, Lower Maine, the Vendee, 
and the Valley of the Lower Loire. 

Lower Normandy. With its great peninsula of 
Cotentin protruding into the English Channel, Lower 
Normandy is nevertheless not a maritime region. 
Its coasts are much less indented than those of 
Brittany, its harbors are few and far between. The 
most important of all is that of Cherbourg, a mili- 
tary post and port of call, which was artificially 
constructed by means of an enormous breakwater. 
But if it lacks harbors — for it is much like the 
shallow, sandy coast of New Jersey — it has a luxu- 
riant vegetation in the interior, where cattle graze 
knee-deep in the tall meadow grass. Toward the 
south, among the hills of the Bocage Normand, the 
soil is not so good; But this is more an industrial 
locality, anyway, with cotton mills and foundries — 
the seat of an ancient industry which since the 
revival of iron-mining has taken on a new lease of 
life. The economic center of the region is the city 
of Caen at the northeast, well within the limits of 
the Paris Basin. Agricultural produce and minerals 
are shipped in that direction, for Normandy turns 
its back, as it were, on Brittany. 

Lower Maine. The same may be said of Lower 
Maine. This desolate country used to be covered 



92 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

with thick woods, but the timber was all cut and 
the land was made use of in two ways, first, as 
pasture for flocks, and second, as arable land where 
cereals, flax, and hemp were cultivated. A brisk 
manufacture of textiles was carried on by hand at 
home, adding considerably to the resources of this 
poorly endowed country. But this condition of 
affairs was completely changed in the nineteenth 
century. As in Brittany, the soil was enriched by 
artificial fertilizers imported by rail. The moors 
were put under cultivation, and methods of cattle 
breeding were greatly improved. Agricultural pros- 
perity became so great that home industries were 
completely driven out. The manufacture of tex- 
tiles is now carried on only in Laval, other existing 
industries being stone-quarrying and mining on a 
small scale — gold, for instance. The chief occupa- 
tion in Lower Maine to-day is selling cattle to the 
farmers in the rich plains of the Paris Basin. 

The Vendee. South of the Loire, the Vendee is 
even more accessible, surrounded by the basins of 
Paris and Aquitaine. In the center is a group of 
rugged hills, a more or less impoverished region. 
But the flat lands in the northeast and southwest 
have a fertile soil — schists enriched by the addition 
of lime — well suited to wheat growing and cattle 
raising. As in Charente, butter made by the agri- 
cultural cooperative societies called "beurreries" is 
a very valuable commodity. These are associations 
of peasants who have come together and set up 



THE MASSIF ARMORICAIN 93 

little factories, each with a sales depot. Every 
member brings his milk, for which the company 
pays him the highest possible price. It is then 
made into butter and sold by expert dairymen in 
the employ of the association. The by-products, 
buttermilk and so forth, serve as food for swine, 
which are fattened and disposed of at fabulous 
prices. The richest parts of the Vendee are the 
low plains and marshes along the coast, ancient 
bays now silted up. The shore line is for the most 
part even, and there are few harbors. 

The Valley of the Lower Loire. But north of 
the Vendee a great thoroughfare pierces the rugged 
heights of the Massif Armoricain. It is both a 
waterway and a highway. This is the Valley of the 
Lower Loire, which widens as it nears the ocean into 
a broad estuary. This valley is both the high- 
road to Brittany and the southern outlet of the 
. Paris Basin. Therefore it has considerable economic 
importance. The river unfortunately is entirely 
inadequate as a means of transportation, though 
improvement of it has begun. Above Nantes the 
stream has been artificially restrained to a single chan- 
nel, and below the city the estuary has been dredged 
so as to accommodate ships drawing as much as 
twenty-six feet. The port of Nantes has regained 
its former prosperity. Trade has stimulated indus- 
trial activity such as metallurgy, ship building, and 
the manufacture of food products. Below this city 
of 200,000 inhabitants, at the entrance of the estuary, 



94 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

is Saint-Nazaire, the port for ocean liners. This is 
where the enormous docks for landing most of the 
American troops in France were constructed. 

To sum up, the Massif Armoricain, which was 
formerly a poor country, is now progressing rapidly. 
This progress is felt even in the interior of Brittany, 
though it is greatest in the more accessible regions 
at the east, where improvement of the soil has been 
more easily accomplished. This eastern part can 
furnish to the Paris Basin on a large scale those 
products to which the region is especially adapted 
by nature, that is, cattle and their by-products. 



CHAPTER X 

THE PARIS BASIN: PLAINS OF THE 
SOUTH AND THE NORTHWEST 

Taking its outside dimensions from the Massif 
Armoricain to the Vosges, and from the Ardenne 
to the Massif Central, the Paris Basin is the largest 
of the natural regions of France. No locality of 
similar extent and configuration can be found in 
the United States to serve as a basis for comparison. 
The plain of the Nord may also be included, the 
transition between the two being almost impossible 
to determine. In this vast expanse of lowlands it 
goes without saying that there must be differences 
of relief. Even here the Alpine thrust, although 
weaker, warped the surface of the ground sufficiently 
so that many kinds of land forms were fashioned 
which can be easily distinguished. We shall run 
through successively the plains of the south and the 
rolling country of the northwest, then linger for some 
time among those plains and plateaus of the north 
and east which have been the scene of the Great War. 

Plains of the south. A relief more simple than that 
of the broad plains reaching from the gates of Paris 
to the Massif Central and the Massif Armoricain 
would be hard to find. The surface of the ground 
has not stirred since the ocean waters last occupying 
the basin slowly retreated, and finally disappeared 

95 



96 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



behind the rugged coast of Brittany. The uplift 
of the entire region was so sHght that the rivers, 
lengthening their courses little by little as they 
followed the retreating sea, had sufficient time to 










Etretat 

3 Havre \- 

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Amiens u~ i 



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^^ ^ i^ Angers-^ jours 

03 



.leans | ' ^ 10^ ^f ' 



5£/J^ 



? ^^/^ 



•<£ Romorantin ) %*\ Jvf ' J''>^*,V#'' 'J' 

oBourg.s\% l;^^ J- ^ 



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p\p/TOU 



BER'RY 



The Paris Basin: Plains of North, Center, and South 

cut down their valleys wherever they encountered 
resistant rocks. Vast, fiat plains dissected by broad, 
beautiful valleys — such is the simple topography 




THE PARIS BASIN 97 

of the region. And yet it is here, in districts without 
distinguishing characteristics of any kind, that all 
the grace and harmony of the true French landscape 
is to be found. 

Even if the relief is simple, the nature of the soil 
and, consequently, the vegetation and agricultural 
possibilities are very varied. 

Berry. At the southeast the region consists of 
a limestone plateau. Berry — wide, dry stretches of 
country which are rather dreary. Upon the slightly 
rolling surface, field follows field with no avenues 
of trees or even hedgerows to relieve the monotony. 
It is a land of cereals and of sheep, whose wool 
provided the raw materials for the old-time cloth 
factories that are still operating in Chateauroux and 
Romorantin. In the limestone soil is found a little 
iron, which in ancient Gaul supplied the foundries of 
the old fortress of Bourges, taken by Caesar after a 
famous siege. Although the mines of Berry are no 
longer exploited, the iron industry has persisted to 
this day, and is represented by the iron works of 
Vierzon and the great government factories in the 
arsenal of Bourges. 

Poitou and Touraine. West of Berry in Poitou 
and Touraine the dry plains give place to wetter 
plains. From the border of the Basin of Aquitaine 
almost to the Seine, the limestone is covered here 
and there with thick patches of sandy clay, more or 
less infertile, but suitable for forest lands. Brooks 
and rivers again make their appearance, giving a 
7 



98 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

quiet, pleasing aspect to the countryside. In 
Poitou these regions called brandes, consisting of 
heaths, forests, and groves of chestnut trees, form 
a sort of bridge between the two rugged districts 
of the Massif Central and the Massif Armoricain, 
rising east and west of the saddle. Still farther 
inland, in Touraine, these plains form gdtines, that 
is to say, sterile regions, seldom even wooded, where 
farming hardly pays. 

Sologne. To the south of Orleans is situated the 
melancholy region called Sologne, which used to be 
one of the most neglected spots in France. Wide 
moors covered the gravelly, clayey soil, and the 
hollows were filled with artificial ponds like those 
in the Dombes, real pest holes of malaria. Toward 
the middle of the nineteenth century a colonizing 
venture, organized and carried on by the Emperor 
Napoleon III, began to transform the country. 
Ponds were drained, moors were forested, waste 
lands were reclaimed. The population is not 
numerous, but prosperous and healthy. Sologne, 
with its forests full of game, has become the great- 
est hunting ground in France. Previous to the war 
special trains for hunters left Paris every day during 
the open season for the game preserves of Sologne. 

Beauce. North of Orleans the plains again be- 
come dry throughout the whole expanse of a vast 
region called Beauce. Its monotonous fields extend 
to the very gates of Paris. Although dry, it is 
fertile enough — the limestone covered with loam — 



THE PARIS BASIN 99 

a true wheat country which has been since time 
immemorial the granary of Paris. It entirely lacks 
the element of the picturesque, except perhaps in 
spring when the wind sweeps across the green fields 
of grain stretching between the gray -walled villages 
clustered here and there. 

Between these plains of the south, some of which 
are dry, others moist, some fertile, others bare, there 
exists one bond — the circulatory system of this incon- 
gruous organism. This is the broad valley through 
which flows the Loire with its tributaries, the Cher, 
Indre, Vienne, Loir, and Sarthe. These rivers have 
excavated deep valleys in the soft substratum of 
limestone. The limestone walls are often precipi- 
tous and riddled with caves which serve even now 
as the abode of human beings. On the valley floors 
the alluvial material brought by the rivers makes 
an excellent soil, sufficiently moist, and neither too 
light nor too heavy. Thanks to the shelter of the 
slopes and to the east- west direction of the streams, 
the influence of the marine climate can penetrate 
far up the valleys, where crops are luxuriant. 
Vineyards and orchards (plums of Touraine) are 
interspersed with fields of wheat, gardens, and 
nurseries. Very slight touches suffice to make a 
landscape full of grace and charm — just the bend 
of a stream, or the rows of trees which border it, 
the outline of a hillside covered with well-groomed 
gardens, or clean little white peasant houses. But 
what a proud contrast is made by a glimpse of one 



loo GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

of those regal chateaux which sprang into being all 
up and down the valley of the Loire during the 
Renaissance! Truly here we are in the heart of 
France, where everything is well ordered, harmo- 
nious, and finely adjusted. 

These rich valleys inhabited by a hard-working 
and unusually refined type of peasant have yet 
another role; they are great thoroughfares. Their 
importance is attested by the presence of numerous 
cities, Angers and Le Mans on the edge of the Massif 
Armoricain, Poitiers on the road to Aquitaine, Tours 
at the crossroads from west and southwest, and 
Orleans where all the roads converge before reach- 
ing Paris. Unfortunately, this commercial role is 
disappearing since the rivers are no longer navigable. 
The Loire and its tributaries from the Massif Central 
are certainly very inadequate from the viewpoint of 
navigability. In their upper courses they have a 
steep grade, and all the water which the impermeable 
soil could not absorb rushes down with great rapidity. 
These floods sweep into the valleys of the Paris 
Basin, from which they cannot escape quickly for lack 
of sufficient slope; so they tear away embankments 
and dikes and inundate the lowlands. Yet in sum- 
mer the watercourses are reduced to little rivulets, 
lost among banks of sand. Formerly, for lack of 
better means of transportation, the inhabitants tried 
to adapt themselves to the vagaries of the rivers, 
and there was a brisk boat trade between Orleans 
and Nantes, but since the building of railways this 



THE PARIS BASIN loi 

has almost entirely disappeared. Only recently has 
it been recognized that water transportation is 
absolutely necessary for the economic development 
of these regions, and in particular that industries 
which used to prosper can be revived only by improv- 
ing the waterways. At the suggestion of the people 
of Nantes, who wish the sphere of influence of their 
port to be felt in the interior, a plan for improving 
the Loire has been drawn up. It has already been 
put into practice between Angers and Nantes. Its 
completion will increase the trade of this well- 
located region, reduced at present to the exploita- 
tion of agricultural resources, which are by no means 
equally important throughout the area. 

Plains and plateaus of the northwest. The part 
of the Paris Basin bordering on the English Channel 
and backed by the Massif Armoricain on the west 
is better endowed by nature. Everything seems 
expressly arranged for the convenience of agricul- 
ture, commerce, and industry. 

Agricultural prosperity is due in part to the mild 
marine climate, moderated still further by a high 
humidity, but even more to qualities of the soil. 
Where this is not composed of marl, the soil best 
suited to rich meadow grass, it consists of a chalky 
limestone covered with fine loam, in which cereals 
flourish abundantly. These two kinds of soil occur in 
broad, alternating bands at right angles to the shore 
line. Marls appear wherever erosion has washed away 
the chalk which usually overlies them in this vicinity. 



•io2 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Plains. Near the boundary of the Massif Armori- 
cain marl soils are found in the fertile hollow known 
as the lowlands or basin of Auge. According to a local 
proverb, grass grows so fast here that it pushes up 
the cattle, and a stick lost in the grass in the evening 
cannot be found next day! Thus the basin is pri- 
marily a cattle-raising country, where animals for the 
Paris market are fattened, and where famous butter 
and cheese — Camembert, for instance — are made. 
Throughout the southern extension of this moist zone, 
in the region of Perche, the well-known Percheron 
draught horses, much sought after in America, are 
bred. Conditions are the same in the verdant low- 
lands of Bray toward the northeast, a country of rich 
meadows and apple orchards, and also toward the 
north in Boulonnais, a celebrated horse market. 

Plateaus. Alternating with these lowlands at an 
elevation of about three hundred feet, stretch broad 
plateaus which fall off into the sea in a series of 
steep, picturesque cliffs. The permeable chalky soil 
is covered with a thick layer of loam, excellent for 
wheat, beets, and, formerly, textile plants such as 
flax and hemp. This is the edge of the wide, open 
plain of the Nord, which is both the most fertile 
and the best cultivated part of France. It also 
profits by its nearness to the sea and the high 
humidity. The fields are interspersed with mead- 
ows, and the villages are surrounded with screens 
of trees or closely planted orchards. These towns 
are composed of huge groups of farm buildings 



THE PARIS BASIN 103 

placed side by side. Through the deep, wide, ver- 
dant valleys pass the transportation routes along 
-which industries of various kinds have grown up. 

Coast. Its long line of coast explains why this 
region has always been one of trade. Not that the 
coast is everywhere well adapted to the construc- 
tion of harbors. In Boulonnais, for instance, there 
are a few small bays, with fairly good shelter, from 
which Napoleon had planned to descend upon Eng- 
land. But with these exceptions the coast is inhos- 
pitable. Toward the north, in Picardy, it is low 
and even, its only openings small estuaries mostly 
silted up, its harbors insignificant. In Normandy, 
as far as the mouth of the Seine, the chalk cliffs, 
more than three hundred feet high, overlook the 
ocean. It is a picturesque region, but hardly suited 
to the give and take of trade between land and sea. 
Harbors are found only at valley mouths. There 
is not room enough for their necessary buildings, 
and, moreover, they are inaccessible from the inte- 
rior. Beyond the estuary of the Seine there are cliffs 
and beaches, but with the exception of the mouth of 
the Orne, there is not one natural harbor. 

To sum up, the coast is beautiful and admirably 
adapted to vacation resorts, and is crowded every 
summer with Parisians, who have built such impos- 
ing watering places as Trouville and E tret at. But 
it is less well suited to commerce. 

Yet nearness to the Channel, which is the busiest 
stretch of water on the globe, and to England, ought 



I04 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

to tempt the inhabitants to sea-calHngs. The Httle 
harbors can serve as points of departure for fishing 
fleets. Boulogne, for example, is the largest fish- 
ing port in France; its trawlers ceaselessly patrol 
the waters of western Europe, and the city supplies 
two-thirds of France with fish, even shipping as far 
as the shores of the Mediterranean. On the other 
hand, several ports have specialized in rapid transit 
to England. Dieppe, for example, is in constant 
communication with Newhaven and Brighton, while 
Boulogne is only twenty-five miles from Folkstone, 
with which it has daily connection. The coast of 
Normandy, however, is not smooth throughout its 
entire length. It is deeply cut into by the broad 
estuary of the Seine, which is the chief trade route 
of France. This bay is all the more important 
because it is the outlet of a river which is the best 
adapted to navigation of any in the country. Two 
important ports have grown up at the mouth of this 
superb waterway. The outer of the two, Le Havre, 
is the chief port of entry for travelers from North 
America ; it is also a huge depot where tropical prod- 
ucts such as coffee are stored previous to being 
manipulated by trade. Rouen, situated on the Seine 
where it is still under tidal influence, has an entirely 
different role; it is primarily the port of Paris. To 
Rouen English coal, American oil, Scandinavian tim- 
ber, Algerian wines, and foreign wheat are brought 
by ocean-going vessels and reshipped by train or 
river steamer to the capital.- Rouen is thus the 



THE PARIS BASIN 105 

gateway for the center of the Paris Basin, which 
gives it an importance increased during the war, for 
the city has recently become, after Paris, the chief 
port of France. 

In conclusion, agriculture and commerce have 
brought about the establishment of industries, agri- 
culture providing a labor supply, commerce facili- 
tating the import of raw materials and the export of 
manufactured products. At the south, the iron ore 
of the Massif Armoricain is treated in the big 
foundries of Caen. At the north, in Boulonnais, 
cement is manufactured from the clayey limestones, 
and metal works already established have been 
transformed into specialized factories for making 
steel pens. 

The region round about Rouen is destined to 
remain a center of textile industries, as it long has 
been. In the Middle Ages native flax, and wool 
brought from across the sea, were made into cloth 
here. In the eighteenth century cotton manufac- 
ture advanced to first place among the industries. 
Woven at first in the country, cotton is now both 
spun and woven in and about the city of Rouen. 

Such an abundance of natural resources makes 
of the northwest part of the Paris Basin a rich and 
populous country. The rural districts are inhab- 
ited by a thriving, prolific people, in whom the 
Scandinavian blood of the Northmen, mixed with 
the prehistoric and Celtic elements, has formed a 
powerful race which is both shrewd and level-headed. 



io6 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

The cities with their superb medieval buildings 
are real capitals, especially the metropolis of Rouen 
(150,000 inhabitants). During the Roman period 
it was already flourishing, and under the Normans 
who conquered Great Britain it was the most impor- 
tant place of all. One glance at its great monu- 
ments testifies to the prosperity of the past. It is 
a source of satisfaction that the industries of the 
present time still maintain its reputation as one of 
the most prosperous cities of France. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE PARIS BASIN: 
' THE NORD; FLANDERS, ARTOIS, PICARDY 

Northern France, from the Belgian frontier to 
the plateaus round about Paris, is one vast plain, 
admirably cultivated — before the Great War — 
intersected by a remarkable network of railways and 
canals, and animated by a vigorous industrial life. 
Here the horrors of war raged most brutally and 
most continuously. Here the devastation wrought 
by the Germans was most widespread. And here 
is a part of the battle-front that witnessed the 
most desperate fighting. But the warfare was not 
of the same kind in Flanders as in Artois and 
Picardy, because the three regions are geographi- 
cally very different. They must be distinguished 
from each other — the plains of Flanders from the 
hills and ridges of Artois and from the plain of 
Picardy. 

Flanders. Flanders is a low, fiat, wet country. 
It is a concave region, a basin, as opposed to the 
convexity of the hills of Artois, south of Flanders. 
It is really but a part of the North Sea basin, and is 
barely above the level of its waters. The underlying 
rocks are so soft that the relief is, as it were, all melted 
and smoothed into almost perfectly horizontal plains 
upon which appear only the merest vestiges of hills. 

107 



io8 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Along the North Sea stretches a plain so low and 
so flat that it scarcely rises above the mean tide 
level. The only elevated portion is the line of 
ridges called the Monts de Flandre, between Saint, 
Omer and Ypres. Most of these hills do not exceed 
200 feet in height, and only a giant or two attains 
300 feet, so that nowhere does the relief offer an 
obstruction to traffic. 

But on the other hand, the nature of the soil and 
the presence of water almost everywhere can be as 
much of an obstacle to armies on the march as real 
mountains would be. Clay is the characteristic soil 
of French Flanders, and is the fundamental fact 
to be reckoned with. Throughout the region the clay 
soil presents the same difficulties, both to agriculture 
and to traffic. After a rain the water, unable 
either to run off the level ground or to perco- 
late through the impermeable clay, remains stag- 
nant on the surface, turning the country into one 
vast mud-flat. But in the dry season this heavy 
soil cracks, breaks open, and becomes as hard as rock. 
The laborer must then pour water on his plough 
in order to advance, whereas after a rain he must 
work barefooted, as it is impossible to extricate any 
footgear from the mire. It is not hard, therefore, to 
imagine the effect of the passage of hordes of armed 
men, followed by their great convoys, across such a 
country. The dirt roads are always impassable dur- 
ing the wet season. Even the paving of the highways 
sinks under the weight of heavy cartage, and the 



THE PARIS BASIN 109 

enormous ruts are gradually effaced by sloughs of 
mud. 

But the clay soil of Flanders has still greater 
surprises in store. In the interior it is responsible 
for that luxuriant vegetation which has given the 
name of Houtland (wooded country) to one entire 
section. Thick hedges, rows of trees in imposing 
avenues, clusters of elms about the houses, groves 
on the less fertile portions, adorn the countryside, 
half concealing it beneath a veil of green. This vege- 
tation makes an excellent ambush. The maritime 
plain is intersected by a network of canals and 
ditches which at low tide drain into the sea the 
waters that fall from a sullen sky. As its level is 
below high tide, the region is easily flooded by open- 
ing the gates through which the inland waters escape. 
This was done by the Belgians in 19 14 when they 
turned the battle field of the Yser into an arm of 
the sea by opening the locks at Nieuport. 

Thus it appears that the Flemish plain, taken all 
in all, is not practicable for armies. Yet the Ger- 
mans hurled themselves furiously upon it because 
occupation of the rich lands seemed to them a con- 
dition of their success. 

In the first place, the possession of the coast 
seemed particularly necessary. In itself this line 
of gray dunes bordered by red-roofed fishermen's 
houses would appear to have little value. But it is 
close to England, and commands the entrance to the 
strait of Calais. Two large ports are located upon 



no CxEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

it: Dunkerque (English, Dunkirk), at the north, 
the receiving port for the raw materials neces- 
sary for Flemish industries, and Calais, the favorite 
landing place and point of departure when coming 
from or going to England. The. maritime plain 
behind is, when sufficiently dry, extremely fertile. 

But the interior of Flanders is still more fertile. 
Before the war it was the busiest and most populous 
part of France. The soil, for centuries worked 
intensively by an intelligent people, produced 
excellent crops of wheat and barley, hops, sugar 
beets, and flax. Its fields of grass, clover, and alfalfa 
fed the plentiful herds of cattle, which in turn sup- 
plied milk, butter, cheese, and meat to the dense 
population of the region. This population was con- 
centrated around Lille. The industrial activity of 
that city dates from the Middle Ages, when it spun 
and wove English wool while peasants near by spun 
and wove the flax raised in the neighborhood. Dur- 
ing the last century machine labor has almost entirely 
supplanted hand labor, and great factories have 
been established in Lille and its vicinity. Cotton 
manufacture has been added to that of wool and 
linen. In the group of cities of which Lille is the 
center, Lille itself specialized in cotton and linen 
thread; Roubaix and Tourcoing monopoHzed the 
woolen industry, and Armentieres and the cities 
along the Lys made Hnen fabrics. Moreover, the 
presence on the spot of an abundant laboring class, 
constantly increased by the immigration of Belgians, 



THE PARIS BASIN iii 

determined the rise of other industrial establishments 
such as the machine shops, breweries, oil works, and 
chemical factories of Lille, more especially those of 
the suburbs south of the city. The manufacture of 
ready-made clothing was also important, supplying 
the big department stores of Paris and employing 
30,000 women. 

This great industrial center was densely populated 
— a million inhabitants in a space of 340 square 
miles. Tall factory chimneys towered above the 
tree tops. Three large cities, Lille, Roubaix, and 
Tourcoing, joined by an almost uninterrupted line 
of suburbs which all together tended to form a 
single urban mass, alone had a total of 650,000 inhab- 
itants. The whole region was devastated by the 
war. Armentieres was destroyed, two sections of 
Lille were ruined. The Germans carefully removed 
or rendered worthless the entire equipment of the 
factories. French Flanders is now only a great inert 
body waiting to be brought back to life. 

Artois. Destruction is even greater farther south 
in Artois and in the coal fields extending toward 
the east. 

Artois is a succeSvSion of hills beginning near the 
coast in Boulonnais and decreasing in height little 
by little toward the east. At the foot of their slopes 
were driven the first ''artesian" wells, which took 
their name from that of the region. The northern 
boundary of the ridge, whose elevation is brought 
into relief by a fault, just south of Lille, overlooks 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



the Flemish plain at a height of over 500 feet. Its 
crests became celebrated during the Great War — 
the heights known as Notre-Dame de Lorette and 
Vimy Ridge, for instance, which were desperately 
fought over because they commanded an enormous 
expanse of territory. Beyond the Scarpe the higher 



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The Paris Basin: Northern Battle Fields, Ile-de-France, 
Champagne 



THE PARIS BASIN 113 

land is represented by a few scattered knolls, like 
the hills of Monchy-le-Preux and the sandy mounds 
south of Douai which finally merge with the plain. 
North of this convex region and stretching along 
its base, are located the most important coal depos- 
its of France. These are the westward extension of 
the coal fields of Belgium which reach across the 
Rhine as far as Westphalia. A curious industrial 
landscape is superposed, as it were, on the original 
rural aspect of the plain. First, there is the neces- 
sary equipment for mining the coal, brick chimneys, 
and metal openwork shaft houses for pulleys and 
chains which drive the frame into the shafts. Near 
by are mine-dumps, solid black cones as much as a 
hundred feet high, formed of waste from the mines, 
the ''cursed mountains" of the sinister country. 
Waves of little one-story houses whose red bricks 
are blackened by the heavy smoke trailing along 
the ground beneath the low-hanging clouds sweep 
across the plain. These groups of houses, all 
identical, are called corons (mining-towns). They 
sometimes smother the native villages altogether, 
sometimes form an adjoining quarter geometrical in 
pattern, or even constitute, all by themselves in the 
midst of the open country, a perfectly new town 
with streets and houses all exactly alike. Here 
and there a city looms above the monotonous land- 
scape — Lens, Douai, Valenciennes — old fortresses 
whose bulwarks have long since disappeared, their 
sites having become modern industrial centers. For 

8 



114 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

previous to the war, activity was as great here above 
the ground as beneath it. In order to profit by 
the presence of fuel without being burdened by the 
cost of transportation, a long trail of industrial 
establishments grew up all along the coal belt — 
coke furnaces, iron works, oil refineries, chemical 
factories, glass works, mirror factories. After the 
Lille group, this region with its centers of Bethune, 
Lens, Douai, Aniche, Denain, Anzin, Valenciennes, 
was the most densely populated of any in France. 
To-day it is lifeless. The factories are destroyed 
or robbed of their machinery. The mines are ruined, 
except those at the west which were not occupied 
by the Germans, and which were worked even during 
bombardments. The most productive part of the 
coal basin, near Lens, was systematically rendered 
useless. The shafts were filled with rubbish — 
remains of the mining apparatus — and then flooded 
by destroying the casing which prevented the sub- 
terranean waters from filling the galleries. Four 
or five years of persistent labor will be necessary to 
restore the coal fields to a workable condition. In 
these rich countries, so hard hit, the war is by no 
means over. 

Picardy. Toward the south desolation spreads 
still farther, but in a somewhat different form, for 
in Picardy throughout a wide district even the soil 
itself is destroyed. 

Picardy is from most points of view the exact 
opposite of Flanders. It is a chalk plateau with a 



THE PARIS BASIN 115 

mean height of about 300 feet, extending from the 
Sambre to the Channel. It is the most monotonous 
and depressing place imaginable, in spite of the 
valleys of the Somme and its tributaries which are 
sunk below its surface to a depth of about 200 feet. 
Except for these valleys there is nothing but a uni- 
form expanse of rolling country traversed by a net- 
work of dry gullies. It is even possible to find an 
absolutely horizontal surface. The fertile region 
between Peronne and Amiens, Santerre, for a distance 
of fifteen miles or more has neither hill nor valley. 
Certainly the nature of the ground does not obstruct 
progress, which indeed is the easier, as the soil is dry, 
thanks to the permeability of the chalk. Neither 
does vegetation interfere. Trees are rare through- 
out the entire plain, and are found only on the 
principal valley floors. Groves have entirely disap- 
peared under the greedy axe of the peasants, who 
are eager to increase the amount of soil fit for 
cultivation. 

The land has the mournful appearance of a region 
completely and scientifically exploited. It is the 
great highway by which to invade France from the 
north. Here were fought the battles of 1914, 1916, 
and 1918. 

This plain was extremely fertile. Upon the chalk 
was a layer of loam several feet thick, admirably 
suited to agriculture. In the nineteenth century it 
was used for a somewhat sensitive crop, sugar beets, 
and Picardy became the chief source of sugar 



ii6 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

supply for France. Wheat, which followed beets in 
the rotation of crops, profited by the cultivation of 
the latter and gave a fine yield. On the waste 
from the sugar factories cattle were fattened for the 
market. A dense rural population collected in large 
villages whose houses were packed close together 
to be as near as possible to the wells, which are very 
costly on this permeable plain. These villages 
became fortresses of the battle fields. Moreover, an 
abundance of labor, added to the presence of raw 
materials and good transportation facilities, created 
industries such as the manufacture of sugar and of 
alcohol, milling, brewing, and the making of linens 
and woolens, whose raw materials were formerly 
produced in the vicinity. This manufacture is still 
carried on to a certain extent in the country, where 
the workmen weave in winter and turn farmer in 
summer. But more and more it is concentrated 
around the towns which have sprung up in the valleys 
along the rivers or canals, as at Amiens, with its 
velvet and cloth factories, Saint-Quentin, a cotton 
center, and Cambrai, a great agricultural mart. 

This prosperity is only a memory. Saint-Quentin 
is in ruins, Amiens has been partially destroyed. 
Rural industries have entirely disappeared. 

Even the land is spoiled, because throughout the 
length and breadth of the battle fields the soil was 
so deeply ploughed up by trenches, shell-holes, and 
mine-craters that the covering of loam was either 
destroyed, reduced to powder, or buried beneath the 



THE PARIS BASIN , 117 

chalk of the subsoil. Throughout a zone ten, twenty, 
or even thirty miles in width, it is feared lest the 
fertility of the soil may not have been completely 
ruined, so that the only means of restoring it would 
be to forest it with pines. A cloak of thin forests 
is thus to take the place of the fine crops of the past, 
and large tracts of prosperous Picardy will be trans- 
formed into solitudes poorer than Sologne or the 
Landes of Gascony. 

Cities destroyed, inhabitants scattered to the 
four winds, industries annihilated, lands laid waste 
to a depth unknown — such is the heritage be- 
queathed the scourge of war as it disappeared from 
Northern France. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE PARIS BASIN: THE PLATEAUS OF 
THE ILE-DE-FRANCE 

South of Peronne and Saint- Quentin the surface 
of the monotonous plain takes on a different ap- 
pearance. At first there are rounded hillocks scat- 
tered helter-skelter, each hill with a perfectly even 
cap of rock, betraying the presence of hard strata. 

South of Noyon these hills, united in groups, 
expand into one continuous plateau occupying the 
center of the Paris Basin and sloping gradually 
toward that city. 

The foundation of these plateaus is a firm, resist- 
ant limestone which underlies all the superstructure. 
This rock crops out in all the cliffs bordering the 
region. But at the north as well as at the south 
this architecture is considerably modified. At the 
north, soft rocks underneath the limestone are worn 
into great valleys, carving the plateau into bits; 
such is Soissonnais. At the south, the plateau 
remains intact, but the limestone almost disappears 
beneath a layer of clay and sand which entirely 
changes its appearance ; such is Brie. 

Soissonnais. To repeat, Soissonnais is composed 
of an underlying horizontal layer of limestone dis- 
sected by valleys into fragments differing greatly 
in size. The plateau is very dry, even more so than 

ii8 



THE PARIS BASIN 119 

the plain of Picardy. Trees are even scarcer than 
in Picardy. There they at least surround the vil- 
lages. Here there are no villages. Not, however, 
that the plateau is poor. On the contrary, the 
layer of loam covering the surface produces as good 
crops as does the great plain of the Nord. Beets 
and wheat thrive here. But the villages nestle in 
the valleys in order to get out of the wind, and also 
to be near the water seeping out from beneath the 
thick limestone. Only a few straggling roofs show 
above the cliffs, or a slender church spire peers over 
the top as if to watch for an approaching enemy. 
A few large, isolated trees, held in great veneration, 
and a few big farms cannot suffice to occupy the 
wide, bare spaces traversed by modern highways 
as well as by the direct lines of the ancient Roman 
roads. 

The surface of the lonely plateau is diversified, 
however, by a network of valleys which bring life 
and action into Soissonnais. The size of these de- 
pressions is astonishing when seen from the edge of 
the cliffs. The least among them would seem to have 
been excavated by a large river. And yet they are 
occupied only by unpretentious, peaceful little 
streams, the Oise, Aisne, Vesle — which has sculp- 
tured a valley two miles in width — and the Ailette, 
a mere rivulet, whose valley, nevertheless, is more 
than a mile wide. Sands and clays beneath the 
limestone explain this extensive erosion. The sur- 
face water, as soon as it reaches these soft layers, 



I20 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

begins to sink in at once and to wear away stream 
beds, while the upper layers of limestone, thus under- 
mined, break off and fall down ; and so is the valley 
widened. Accordingly the high, flat surface is dis- 
sected into a multitude of little plateaus, or torn 
into long narrow strips, the most famous of which 
is the Chemin-des-Dames. 

The variety of the strata cut through by the 
valleys produces diversified land forms and con- 
sequently differing resources. The valley floor rests 
upon a layer of clay, which makes it damp, sometimes 
even marshy, and it is covered with trees and grass- 
lands. The slopes above are gradual, consisting of 
fine sand or rich, mellow soil. The bits of limestone 
which crumble off and fall down from above mix 
with what is already there and produce an almost 
perfect topsoil. Here are raised vegetables, the 
pride of Soissonnais — string beans, artichokes, aspar- 
agus. There are orchards, too, and on the best 
exposures, vineyards. Most of the villages, clustered 
about springs, lie hidden in the recesses within 
reach of the meadows below as well as the wide 
fields above, and close to the valuable lands on the 
slopes. Far above rises the limestone cornice whose 
clear-cut outlines make a striking contrast with the 
humble landscape below. Here is where openings 
to quarries played such an important part in the 
Great War, serving as shelters and strongholds. 

This lovely region was in fact the scene of many of 
the bloodiest battles. In this countryside so full 



THE PARIS BASIN 121 

of charm — all scented as it were with memories of 
the ancient history of France, adorned with chdteaux 
and churches whose architecture is world-famous, 
as well as picturesque old cities — the most infernal 
struggles of the war took place : the battle of the Aisne 
in 1 9 14 and 191 5, the battle of Chemin-des-Dames 
in April and October, 191 7, the German offensive of 
Chemin-des-Dames in 191 8, and finally, the glorious 
second battle of the Marne, which extended even 
farther south into Brie. 

Brie. The landscape changes little by little 
toward the south. The valleys are deep as before, 
but not so wide and not so numerous. The principal 
ones are those of the Marne and of the Ourcq. The 
plateau is more continuous ; its appearance is differ- 
ent because the surface is covered with sands and 
clays upon the limestone. A sandy zone bounds 
Soissonnais on the south, indicated by lines of low, 
wooded hills, the names of which (Forests of Villers- 
Cotterets and Fere-en-Tardenois) have been made 
famous by the Franco-American offensive. Beyond 
the valley of the Marne, commanded by Chateau- 
Thierry, the beautiful region of Brie extends all 
the way to the Seine. The soil, composed of clay 
and loam, is damper than that of the plateaus of 
Soissonnais. Here and there, even, there are ponds. 
Vegetation is more luxuriant, trees shut in the farms 
and form little groves now and then. Agricultural 
products are varied and abundant. Brie is queen 
of wheat. Together with her neighbor, Beauce, she 



122 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

supplies Paris. Sugar beets grow here, too, and 
cattle are numerous, furnishing Paris with meat and 
cheese (Brie). On the slopes of the deep valleys 
are orchards whose fruits are sent to the capital. 
A few industries thrive in the rural countryside — 
stone quarrying and plaster manufacturing; there 
are flour mills, sugar manufactories, and distilleries. 
But agriculture gives the country its peculiar stamp, 
with its scientific processes and its almost industrial 
aspect, combining farm and factory in one. So 
many farm hands are needed in the rush seasons 
that in summer and fall Belgian Flemings have had 
to be imported; they poured by thousands into the 
great farms. Brie really forms an extension of the 
fertile plains reaching from the center of Belgium 
all the way to Paris. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE PARIS BASIN: CHAMPAGNE 

Toward the east, extending as far as the Vosges, 
the Paris Basin shows a simple configuration formed 
of two component parts, plateaus and cliffs. All 
the layers deposited by the seas of the Tertiary and 
Secondary Ages appear one after the other, from 
the most recent to the most ancient, brought to 
light by the uplift of the whole mass as a result of 
the Alpine thrust and by subsequent erosion. As 
the entire region was bent up like the edge of a 
saucer, the layers all slope toward Paris, each one 
forming a plateau inclined slightly in that direction 
and ending in an abrupt escarpment or cote at the 
east. This type of relief is found as far west as 
Champagne. It is even more manifest in Lorraine. 
(See map, p. 130). 

The first of these escarpments facing east is that 
which, overlooking the plain of Champagne, forms 
the edge of the plateau of the Ile-de-France. Rising 
500 to 650 feet above the plain, this cliff twists and 
turns, forming bays and promontories like the 
famous "mountain" of Reims (English, Rheims), 
sometimes even ''islands," remnants of the cliff left 
standing alone upon the plain, like the Monts de 
Champagne, upon which the fierce battles of 191 7 
and 1 918 took place. On the frontal margins are 

123 



124 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

found the same kinds of soil which appeared in the 
valleys of Soissonnais. These slopes, which have an 
advantageous exposure to the south and east, are 
covered with the famous vineyards of Champagne. 
The vine is cultivated here only by persistent 
effort, the results of which are often destroyed 
by early frosts. The vineyards are very small, 
sometimes hardly more than an acre or two, and 
the land is enormously expensive, ranging from 
30,000 to 45,000 francs a hectare (2.47 acres). 
The wine harvested is manipulated in immense 
cellars hollowed out of the chalk to such a depth 
that they were bomb-proof, The population col- 
lects on the slopes in gay little villages hardly more 
than 500 yards apart. Even so, it is necessary at 
harvest time to hire helpers from all the surrounding 
country. 

At the foot of the abrupt incline are pros- 
perous cities, centers of the wine trade, such as 
Epernay, Ay, and Reims. The last-named city was 
also a great producer of woolen goods, as well as a 
trade center, situated as it is at the gateway of the 
Ile-de-France and on the through line from Calais 
to Bale. Its buildings, especially its cathedral, 
bore witness to its former greatness and to its 
important place in history. For it was in the 
cathedral of Reims that for ten centuries the kings 
of France were consecrated. It was to the people 
of France not only a marvel of architecture but the 
symbol of their greatness. It is ruined now. 



THE PARIS BASIN 125 

During four years the Germans ceaselessly bom- 
barded Reims from the Monts de Champagne 
without the slightest military excuse. The site 
where this city of 110,000 inhabitants once stood 
is now only a desert waste. 

Champagne pouilleuse. Beyond, the country is open 
toward the east. There is only a plain, wide as the 
sea. That part of Champagne known as pouilleuse 
(a figurative expression meaning useless) extends 
as far as the Argonne, and is flatter than Picardy, 
although it rises almost imperceptibly toward the 
east. While the chalky soil resembles the soil of 
Picardy, the valleys are not as deep. No gorges, no 
craggy surfaces break the monotony of these undu- 
lating plains. In Picardy, at least man bestirred 
himself to adorn the landscape with many big 
villages, church spires, and rounded haystacks. But 
here all is empty space, where land forms and even 
human beings seem to be wanting. This is because 
the soil is almost sterile. There is no loam on the 
surface. Chalk crops out everywhere, yielding a soil 
of limestone gravel or white powder made spongy 
by the slightest rain, which turns it into a sticky 
white paste. There are no fertile elements what- 
ever. It can be characterized as arid. Yet attempts 
have been made to utilize it, and most of the worth- 
less and unproductive lands have been reforested. 
All the higher portions have been planted with pines, 
so abundant now that they often fill one-third or 
one-quarter of the entire space. Confining most 



126 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

of their efforts to the regions nearest the valleys, the 
peasants have succeeded, by means of fertilizers, 
in increasing the quantity and especially the quality 
of their crops. All the villages as well as the cities 
are found in valleys, as, for instance, Chalons and 
Troyes, the first a transportation center, the second 
an industrial city manufacturing woolen goods from 
raw materials provided by the sheep of the solitudes. 

These great plains which seem incapable of pro- 
ducing anything whatever, with a vegetation so 
sparse that ''the chalky soil appears here and there 
like skin under the pelt of a scabby sheep," are the 
regions best adapted by far to movements of armies. 
Attila and the Huns were once conquered here, like 
William II in 19 14. Furious attacks were launched 
here in 191 5, 191 7, and 1918. Modern strategy 
had succeeded in making use of the slightest irregu- 
larities of the surface, turning to account the pine 
woods and scattered villages; in a word, making the 
region, open and defenseless as it is, into a veritable 
fortress. For this is where trench warfare was most 
successful. 

Champagne humide. Less ingenuity was required 
to make the most of the neighboring locality, ''moist" 
Champagne, with its hilly area of the Argonne. 

A new rock, in turn lifted toward the east, comes 
to light beneath the chalk. Its mere appearance 
is enough to transform the landscape. Instead of 
permeable chalk, here are sands and clays; that is 
to say, a moist soil, where water is as plentiful as 



THE PARIS BASIN 127 

it is uncommon in Champagne pouilleuse. Ponds, 
especially toward the south, are numerous. There 
are forests everywhere — great, dense woods wreathed 
in mist. Cultivated fields are scarce except in one 
or two broad valleys; they make way for cattle 
raising. 

On the whole, the land forms resulting from these 
soft rocks are not much differentiated. But there 
is one notable exception to' the rule in the Argonne. 
In a line with Reims and Verdun, its soil is composed 
of a hard, whitish sandstone, constituting a little 
upland area with an elevation of about a thousand 
feet. The height above the surrounding country is 
thus inconsiderable, but the land forms are very 
complicated. The sandstone slopes are steep, and 
the hills are dissected by ravines whose walls are 
precipices. Thus the Argonne is a labyrinth of crests 
and hollows. Over this wilderness of deep gorges 
and steep ridges is spread an immense forest-cloak 
of oaks, birches, mountain ash, and pines, with an 
impenetrable underbrush of heather, ferns, and 
broom. In these thickets war resembles a trappers' 
fight. Nowhere else during the Great War were 
the opposing forces so entangled with each other. 
For years the conflict raged here without result. A 
prodigious effort on the part of the French and espe- 
cially of the Americans in the autumn of 1918 chased 
the Germans from thicket to thicket and from gorge 
to gorge, until with the great offensive of November 
first, the Argonne forest was entirely cleared of the 



128 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

enemy, who was forced back beyond the Meuse. 
The Argonne has been called, with good reason, the 
Thermopylae, of France. But it is a Thermopylae 
from which the Allies succeeded in driving back 
the barbarians. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE PARIS BASIN: LORRAINE 

The landscape of plateaus and cliffs already 
noted in the Ile-de-France and Champagne is still 
more marked in Lorraine. From beneath the sands 
and sandstones of ''moist" Champagne protrudes 
a limestone layer rising toward the east and ending 
in a more or less regular cote. From the foot of 
this first cote another plateau extends toward the 
east, almost identical with the first, and after this 
another and yet another until one arrives at the 
higher and more scattered hills upon the plain of 
Lorraine. 

Thus a distinction must be made between the 
region of plateaus and cotes at the west and the plain 
at the east. In this chapter we are concerned only 
with that part of Lorraine which remained French 
after the partition of 1871. 

The plateaus of the west.* RolHng uplands 
crossed here and there by deep ravines between 
steep limestone cliffs, like those dissecting the pla- 
teaus of the Hauts-de-Meuse near Douaumont and 
Vaux — such are the plateaus of the west. Both 
appearance and natural resources differ, according 
as the soil is composed of clay or limestone. The 
limestone plateaus, which are the more extensive, are 
infertile. The rock, which is scarcely decomposed 
9 129 



I30 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



at all on the surface, yields only a sort of gravel. 
It is hard to cultivate except here and there in 
hollows. Besides, the climate is severe, the eleva- 
tion being close to 1,300 feet. The vocation of these 



f- I <JZ>VSeda4^t\^M.>wlS^^ ->. LUXE M BUR G^j>^l 

'H^i\: \ .^^^^y>^,_ -^^^ 




f ^ iThiojvilU 



c 



Brieyc 






A 



^Tour 



Jancy 



tChaumont 



The Paris Basin: Lorraine, Plateaus and C6tes 



THE PARIS BASIN 



131 



limestone soils is to produce forests. Each plateau 
figures on a forest map as a festooned veil. There 
are many forests on the crests of the first limestone 
belt, that of Bar-le-Duc, and those of Avocourt, 
Cheppy, Romagne, which have become sadly famous. 
But these are nothing in comparison to the great 
woods appearing on the plateau next farther east. 



Argonne 



Hauts-de- 
Meus 

Cotes 
de M'euse 



Iron 
Deposits I 

; Plain of 
Lorraine 




Cross-Section of Cqtes of Lorraine 



This wide, elevated expanse, called in military 
terms the Heights of the Meuse, which traverses 
Lorraine all the way from Chaumont to Sedan, is 
entirely forested. Do we need to recall such names 
as the Forests of Consenvoye, Ormont, and Grande- 
Montagne, where the American army fought so 
heroically? The only passageway through the 
region is the wide valley of the Meuse, which follows 
the central line of the plateau from Commercy past 
Saint-Mihiel and Verdun to Dun. Upon its fields 
and meadows and bordering villages the dark wall 
of forests looks down from above. Another wooded 



132 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

region, less dense, and with more open spaces, is 
that which commands Nancy, Pont-a-Mousson, and 
Metz. 

When a more impermeable clayey soil takes the 
place of the limestone still farther east along the 
cotes, the appearance of the plateau is not neces- 
sarily much altered. To be sure, deep ravines in 
the limestone are more or less blotted out when 
crossing the clay soil; that is to say, the relief is 
less pronounced, but less regular. The plateau is 
more rolling, but is not as much dissected. Forests 
still cover a large part of the soil where it is too 
clayey for crops to succeed without too great expense. 
This is why the zone of soft, impermeable rocks 
following the Cotes of the Meuse from Toul north — 
the region to which is given the name of Woevre, 
whether at the south near Thiaucourt or at the north 
in the Forest of Woevre — is covered with great for- 
ests. Here and there among the woods many ponds 
testify to the impermeability of the soil. The 
southern part of the Woevre is dotted over with them. 
Nevertheless there are open districts as well. In 
spots where the soil is less compact and more suited 
to agriculture, especially wherever a layer of loam 
covers the clay, the trees have been cut off and 
villages cluster around the fallow lands. But these 
populous regions are not common. The really 
favored parts of the country are the cotes. 

Each of the plateaus invariably rises slowly 
toward the east, where it terminates in an escarp- 



THE PARIS BASIN 133 

merit overlooking the next plateau. These cotes 
are the pride of Lorraine. 

The cote is due to the contact of two different 
component parts, as has been said: the base, a soft, 
impermeable layer in which erosion has progressed 
rapidly; the cornice, a thick limestone mass forming 
the edge of the plateau. Thus the lower slopes of 
the cote are gradual but the upper part is steep, 
sometimes even forming a precipice. The slopes 
have a more equable climate, are less exposed to frost 
than the valley floor, and are protected from the 
northwest winds as well. They are sunny, especially 
when facing southeast. An admirable topsoil con- 
sisting of decomposed bits of limestone mixed with 
clay covers the slopes, and is well suited to any 
crops. Orchards and vineyards thrive here. All 
conditions are favorable to man. The settlements 
are among the orchards below, where the inhabitants 
can exploit the forests above them as well as the 
rich lands in the valley. Quarries in the limestone 
cliffs furnish building materials for the villages nest- 
ling at the foot of the cotes. These escarpments 
have played a great part in the history of the country 
from a military point of view, for since time imme- 
morial they have been the rampart of France against 
Germanic invasions. The Great War witnessed 
some terrible struggles on these gentle slopes: the 
battle of the cliffs of Nancy in 19 14, on the Cotes of 
the Moselle; the battles of Verdun in 19 16 and 1918 
on the Cotes of the Meuse; battles of 1916, 1917, and 



134 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



1 91 8 on the Cote de 1' Quest, Hill 304, Montfaucon, 
Romagne, and Bantheville. This region, although of 
little agricultural value, has nevertheless great in- 
dustrial wealth. All along the Cotes of the Moselle 
a thick vein of iron ore comes to the surface. It is 
the richest vein yet exploited in the world, with the 
exception of the deposits near Lake Superior. 
Iron is mined along the Moselle on the edge of the 
cote and for the last twenty years has been mined 
in the plateau as well, of which the cote is only the 
edge. This is the famous basin of Briey, extending 
from Nancy into Luxembourg (English, Luxem- 
burg). The mineral is treated on the spot, both in 
what was German Lorraine and in that part which 
remained French. From here France obtained nine- 
tenths of her iron. This explains the enormous 
difficulties she had to overcome in order to reorgan- 
ize her industries in the midst of war, robbed at 
the same time of the iron of Lorraine and of the 
coal of the Nord. A supply of French and German 
coal determined the location of factories near the 
mines. The entire seam bristles with smelters 
where the ore is treated. In order to colonize this 
thinly populated region, immigration of Italians, 
Poles, and Belgians was encouraged; these immi- 
grants mingled with the French. More than ever 
is Lorraine a border land. 

The plain of the east. At the foot of the eastern- 
most cote the simple structure of the landscape of 
western Lorraine disappears. Plateaus and cliffs 



THE PARIS BASIN 



135 



give place to the plain. Along the line of contact 
between the two regions, the strip of territory at 
the foot of the cotes is not unlike a hyphen between 




Lorraine and Alsace 



the two parts of Lorraine, containing the large 
towns of the region — Nancy, for instance, which 
has become a commercial and industrial city of 



136 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

120,000 inhabitants since the immigration of the 
people of Alsace-Lorraine who did not wish to remain 
in that country under German tyranny. This has 
made Nancy the capital of the east. The metal- 
lurgy of western Lorraine and the chemical and 
textile industries of the east alike find a market in 
Nancy. Its commercial role is hardly less impor- 
tant than its intellectual influence. 

Toward the east stretches a rolling plain, dotted 
with low hills and sometimes ridges, but distinctly 
a plain in comparison to the cotes and the Vosges 
surrounding it. There are only gentle slopes, but 
slopes everywhere — rounded hillocks and wide, un- 
dulating valleys. Here and there on a hilltop a 
rugged cap may be seen, a remnant of overlying 
limestone or sandstone. The hollows in the clay 
soil are often filled with water, and ponds are scat- 
tered everywhere. The melancholy landscape is 
intersected by long wooded streaks, forests which 
grow upon the infertile pebbly soils washed down 
from the Vosges. The valleys are broad, always 
damp, and sometimes marshy. These heavy soils are 
difficult to cultivate, and the crops do not give good 
yields. But industries can get a foothold here, owing 
to various conditions. Below the surface are layers 
of rock salt, whose exploitation has led to the estab- 
lishment of chemical plants round about Nancy. 
Along the upper reaches of the valleys, spinning and 
weaving factories, seeking out localities with better 
transportation facilities, have made of Lorraine 



THE PARIS BASIN 137 

the chief cotton center of France. The clay of the 
soil also furnishes raw materials for the manufac- 
ture of porcelain (Luneville), and near the Vosges 
the sands resulting from the decomposition of the 
sandstone supply glass, crystal, and mirror factories. 
Hence Lorraine tends more and more to become an 
industrial region. It was for a long time a poor agri- 
cultural country, often trampled under the heel of 
armies. For the last fifty years, however, its people, 
enlivened and their energy and initiative aroused by 
Alsatian immigration, have been making the most 
of the soil and the transportation facilities. In this 
way Lorraine has become one of the most active 
parts of France, one of those which she holds most 
valuable and most dear. 



CHAPTER XVI 
THE VOSGES 

In its turn the plain of Lorraine rises toward the 
east, and along its margin is a wide, mountainous 
highland of sandstone more than 2,600 feet in height. 
These hard rocks take bulky forms, their steep sides 
falling off perpendicularly into deep valleys. Except 
in the valleys, with their fields and meadows, the sand- 
stone belt is one immense spruce forest. It would 
be studied as a part of the Vosges if it were not 
separated from them by a depressed zone where 
at the contact between plain and mountains there 
are many cities, Saint-Die and Epinal, for instance, 
markets for mountain industries. 

Beyond the plain rise the Vosges proper. They 
are peculiar mountains. Their elevation is not great, 
the highest summit reaching an altitude of only 
4,677 feet, but the climate is severe. They are well 
watered, because the rain-bearing winds from the 
Atlantic reach them without obstruction, sweeping 
across the fiat expanses of the Paris Basin. A 
heavy blanket of snow remains upon them well into 
May. The moisture gives rise to superb forests on 
the mountain sides, mostly of spruce and fir. These 
cover the slopes up to 4,000 feet, above which the 
severity of the climate discourages all vegetation 
except bushy thickets and wet, grassy fields where 

138 



THE VOSGES 139 

flocks from below graze in summer. Thus in spite 
of their low altitude, the Vosges have one character- 
istic of high mountains — a well-marked timber-line. 
The landscape is more or less fantastic. The 
summits are rounded, not especially prominent. 
There are neither peaks nor points, but the valleys 
are deep and dangerous. Moreover, the two slopes 
are very unlike. The Vosges rise gradually from 
west to east by great dome-like summits, whereas 
on the east they fall away abruptly to the plain 
of Alsace, cut off sharp by the fault which let 
down the plain of the Rhine. Seen from that side, 
the contrast is marked between the high crests 
resembling huge cupolas, and the steep slopes below. 
Nor is this all. Glaciers occupied the valleys dur- 
ing the Quaternary Age; on the west, which was 
wetter and cooler, they were larger and descended 
almost to the plain; everywhere they polished the 
slopes and hollowed out deep depressions filled by 
lakes to the present day. The mountains which 
they fashioned still have cascades and streams with 
steep gradients. This arrangement is well suited 
to human occupation. Penetration even to the very 
interior of the chain is made easy by the wide, deep 
valleys, though agriculture is encouraged neither by 
the severe climate nor by the infertility of the granite 
soil. But other industries find here most favorable 
conditions, with wood enough for fuel or raw mate- 
rial, and water for motive power. The working of 
wood is a custom of long standing in the mountains. 



I40 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

To it has been added the paper industry. In addi- 
tion, the manufacturers of Mulhouse (German, 
Miilhausen) estabHshed in the high valleys branches 
of the cotton factories of their city. These fac- 
tories greatly increased in number after 187 1 owing 
to emigration from Alsace-Lorraine; the valleys are 
filled with them. A strange spectacle was seen, that 
of lowland peoples moving up into the hills seeking 
industrial employment; and the high regions to-day 
are much more thickly settled than the plain of Lor- 
raine. The valleys sloping toward Alsace, being 
sunnier and warmer, with streams at a still steeper 
grade, are filled with successions of factories. 

To sum up, these rugged heights are like a busy 
hive in comparison to the plains of Lorraine and of 
the Saone which lie below. The ravages of war, 
being more localized, will be repaired more easily 
here than elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XVII 

ALSACE-LORRAINE 

The provinces torn from France by Germany in 
187 1 in spite of the unanimous protest of the inhabit- 
ants have formed since that time a single poHtical 
unit which Germany has used not only as a bul- 
wark for self-protection, but also for a stronghold 
from which to attack France. This Reichsland 
developed in the interests of Germany is, however, 
composed of two very different parts, a Lorraine 
territory, extending over the northern part of the 
plain of Lorraine, and the long valley of Alsace. 

Lorraine. The Lorraine territory extends from 
the Cotes of the Moselle to the northern Vosges. 
From Pont-^-Mousson to Thionville the scalloped line 
of cliffs shelters a multitude of villages surrounded 
with orchards. In -every indentation of the plateau 
made by a river valley the exploitation of iron has 
given rise to huge metal works of all sorts whose pros- 
perity recalls that of the industrial establishments 
of western Pennsylvania. These new centers of 
industry somewhat overshadow the old fortresses 
near the crossings of the Moselle — Thionville, and 
particularly Metz, whose population was reduced by 
an enormous emigration into France. 

Toward the east the well-known characteristics 
of the Lorraine plain reappear — a heavy clay soil 

141 



142 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

dotted over with large ponds, limestone ridges 
whose slopes are shared by vineyards and hop fields , 
and poor sandstone soils over which forests are 
gradually spreading. On the whole it is a country 
of scanty crops, where the inhabitants have a hard 
time to get along. But industries are perhaps even 
more flourishing than in French Lorraine. This is 
because of a coal basin, that of Sarrebruck (German, 
Saarbriicken) , extending south into Lorraine. Thanks 
to this fuel supply near at hand, the industries of 
the region have been extensively developed. From 
rock salt, chemical products are manufactured at 
Sarralbe ^ (German, Saaralben). Large porcelain 
factories are located at Sarreguemines (German, 
Saargemiind), and glass and crystal works in the 
valleys of the sandstone plateau. It is to be hoped 
that at greater depths the coal basin may extend 
even beyond the 1871 frontier, for the discovery of 
such an important resource would be for the whole 
of Lorraine a fact of greatest consequence. In 
conclusion, Lorraine which was German, with its 
intensive development of metallurgy and its factories 
turning out such varied products, is becoming more 
and more an industrial country. 

At the east the granite mass of the Vosges no 
longer intervenes, as at the south, between Lorraine 
and Alsace. A sandstone plateau called the Lower 
Vosges rises 1,000 to 1,300 feet above the deep 
Alsatian depression. This belt is really an obstruc- 
tion, and was formerly a boundary line, not so much 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 143 

on account of the topography as because of impene- 
trable forests. Intercourse between the two regions 
can take place only through breaks in the forest, 
which has been cleared at points where the eleva- 
tion is least. The lowest and most convenient of 
these defiles is the pass of Saverne, through which 
runs the Paris-Strasbourg railway and the Marne- 
Rhine Canal — the gateway of Alsace toward the 
west. 

Alsace. A low plain situated in the deep, sunken 
belt which cut the ancient massif of the Vosges- 
Black Forest in two, Alsace has one of the most 
marked individualities in western Europe. The 
Vosges, rising abruptly above it on the west, protect 
it from ocean influences, making its climate twice 
as dry as that of Lorraine, with an added southern 
quality shown by the appearance of sensitive crops, 
and by an intensive cultivation of the vine. The 
sunny climate is the first evidence of that hospitable 
character of Alsace which is noticeable even in the 
nature of its soil. 

Formed of alluvial deposits which have gradually 
filled the valley, brought chiefly by the Rhine and 
its tributaries, Alsace is divided into a series of bands 
of different kinds of soil paralleling that river and 
the Vosges and filling the space between the two. 

First, along the river itself there is a half -watery 
zone. Although the Rhine has been confined to a 
single channel by the construction of embankments, 
the waters continue to percolate through and fill 



144 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

up old stream beds, where there is an aquatic vegeta- 
tion, reeds, rushes, and osiers, with thickets of pop- 
lars and willows. This is a favorite hunting ground, 
completely wild except here and there where the 
river can be crossed. 

Next comes the zone of terraces between Bale 
and Strasbourg, a few feet above the level of the 
Rhine. These are composed of a gravelly soil, very 
dry on the surface but with ground water at a 
slight depth. This indifferent soil is mostly covered 
with thin and scattered forests. But on the other 
hand, the zone makes an excellent thoroughfare. It 
forms a kind of bridge from Belfort to Strasbourg 
between • the marshy belts of the Rhine and, the 
111. Here was located the Roman road, and here 
is the Rhone- Rhine Canal. This region is thinly 
populated. 

Behind this belt appears a second moist zone, 
that of the 111, merging near Strasbourg with that of 
the Rhine. The soil is composed of clay deposits 
brought from the Vosges by the 111 and its tribu- 
taries, whose confluence with the Rhine has been 
forced back far toward the north by the principal 
stream. Water stands everywhere on. the imper- 
meable soil, either overflowing from the level streams 
or seeping through from the Rhine itself. This, 
then, is a zone of marshy meadowlands which are 
capable of producing, when drained, magnificent 
harvests of cereals, tobacco, and vegetables. The 
population is dense throughout. Here along the 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 145 

quiet 111 rather than the fickle Rhine is where the 
large cities of Alsace are located — Mulhouse, Col- 
mar, Strasbourg. 

The fourth zone, along the foot of the Vosges, is 
again dry. Wherever it is not obstructed by masses 
of pebbles, as at the valley mouths, it is wonder- 
fully fertile, because its soil is a kind of loam known 
as loess, with unlimited agricultural possibilities. 
It is the richest part of Alsace, with its great crops 
of cereals, tobacco, and hops raised by a multitude 
of small landowners who are prosperous and of a 
democratic turn of mind. This was the home of 
prehistoric man, who subdued this advantageous 
region before beginning on the wet lands which 
formerly were completely covered with forests. It 
is the most thickly settled part of Alsace. 

And lastly, still parallel to the Rhine and along 
the limestone slopes at the foot of the Vosges, pro- 
longed toward the north by ridges in front of the 
sandstone plateau of Lorraine, stretches the zone 
which has the best exposure of all and is the most 
protected. This is the habitat of the vine, culti- 
vated with an attention and a resulting success 
which recall the cotes of Burgundy. Here, as in 
Burgundy, numberless small towns with a hale and 
hearty people have grown up at the foot of the 
slopes. If north of the pass of Saverne the vine 
is less cultivated than toward the south, orchards 
and hop fields are even more successful, covering all 
the hills at the foot of the Lower Vosges. 
10 



146 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

So in spite of similarity of origin, Alsace has 
extremely varied agricultural resources. This is its 
peculiar characteristic. Possibly less favored from 
a manufacturing than from an agricultural point 
-of view, it nevertheless has such good transportation 
facilities, both waterways and railways, that raw 
materials can easily be brought here. Strasbourg is 
a flourishing metallurgical center. The water power 
of the Vosges, skillfully manipulated, has given new 
life to the ancient textile industries of Mulhouse, 
of which that city is still the center. All along the 
Vosges there are cotton and woolen factories. 
Recently the development of certain resources in 
the lower layers of the soil has begun; for instance, 
the great deposits of potassium near Mulhouse 
and of petroleum in the Lower Vosges. 

But Alsace is especially well suited to trade. It 
is the route from northwestern Europe to Switzer- 
land, and connects the basins of Paris and the 
Saone with Central Europe. The Rhine, regulated 
for traffic, is already serviceable as far as the port 
of Strasbourg and soon will be so even to Bale. All 
these commercial qualifications are summed up in 
the great Alsatian city itself, for Strasbourg is 
situated at the point of contact of various parts of 
Alsace; the zones of the Rhine and the 111 join here, 
the fertile terraces extend almost to its precincts, and 
behind it opens the pass of Saverne. Thus at the 
same time it is both a center and a halfway station. 
Because of its commercial rather than its industrial 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 147 

advantages it has become a metropolis of 160,000 
inhabitants where Latin and Germanic civilizations 
have blended. 

Such are the provinces which now return to France 
after forty-eight years of captivity. The feelings of 
their inhabitants were well known. Since the time 
of the Revolution they have been entirely and 
intensely French. No part of France has given to 
the army more illustrious generals, and even in the 
recent war 30,000 Alsatians voluntarily enlisted with 
the French forces. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
PARIS 

On account of its economic importance and its four 
million inhabitants, but especially because of the 
intellectual and artistic power radiating from it, 
Paris may be considered the magnetic pole of 
France. It deserves special study apart from the 
great natural regions. 

Situation. The city of Paris is the true center 
of the Paris Basin. It is the geological center 
because it is situated at the lowest point in the 
vast depression, the strata sloping in this direction 
from every side. The principal rivers of the basin 
— Seine, Marne, Oise — converge toward Paris. 
Only the Loire, which flowed toward the site of 
Paris during the Tertiary Age, was subsequently 
diverted toward the west; but there is no barrier 
between its banks and those of the Seine. Hence 
Paris is an excellent center of transportation routes, 
both of roads — south via the plain of Beauce, north 
via Picardy — and of waterways — the lower Seine 
toward the ocean, the upper Seine via the Yonne 
into Burgundy, via the Marne into Lorraine, and 
via the Oise, which opens the plains of the north, 
into Belgium. Water transportation is the more 
important since all these rivers are models of navi- 
gability. One of the water routes, that of the Seine 

148 



PARIS 149 

and the Yonne, even has an international impor- 
tance because it leads from the Channel to the Saone 
and the Mediterranean. By this route prehistoric 
trade was carried on between ancient Mediterranean 
civilizations and northern Europe. Thus it is obvi- 
ous that Paris has an admirable commercial situation, 
owing primarily to facility of water transportation, 
as the ship on its coat-of-arms would indicate. 

Site. An important city had to grow up some- 
where along the navigable waterway of the Seine. 
The determining factor in locating the exact site 
of Paris is the confluence of the Marne with the Seine. 
Together these two rivers have hollowed out of the 
Ile-de-France a very wide valley. Swinging back 
and forth, detaching spurs or carving out great bays 
from the surface of the plateau, the rivers have 
sculptured a broad basin, irregular and much frayed 
around the margins, but in every direction having 
as its horizon the well-defined edge of the plateau. 

This Parisian hollow, at an altitude of only 100 to 
150 feet, is rich in resources. Protected by the 
sheltering walls, both the vine and the fig tree can 
grow here. The varied nature of the hills, which 
remain in high relief here and there, gives a great 
range of exposure as well as of soil. Along the slopes 
the valuable soils of the valleys of Soissonnais and of 
the escarpments of Champagne reappear. They 
furnish building materials, limestone, gypsum — of 
which plaster of Paris is made — and clay for tiles. 
Thus Paris became a city of monuments and 



ISO 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



beautiful buildings, more naturally so than London, 
which has in its vicinity no building materials 




Paris 

but clay, and Berlin, with little but sand. To all 
these contrasting conditions is due the wide range of 
agricultural resources — cereals both in the valley 
and on the plateaus of Beauce and Brie, vineyards 
on the slopes, orchards on the hillsides. It is a 
site full of possibilities and charm, and it might be 
said that even without its excellent transportation 
faciHties this little corner of France would have been 
chosen as advantageous for human occupation. 



PARIS I SI 

Development of the city. It remains to be seen 
how the city has developed within its frame. 

Its origin was the He de la Cite, an island in the 
Seine equally well located for self-defense and for 
trade. The island used to be much lower than at 
present, and has risen only little by little during the 
centuries upon its own ruins. It also was originally 
much smaller, and was enlarged during the Middle 
Ages by the annexation of several islets. The river 
was also more complex than in our day, with many 
shallow branches. This network of islands and 
branches explains the choice of the site, because 
here, where the river was so "braided," crossing 
was easiest. 

The first enlargement of the city, which took place 
during the Roman period, was made on the left 
bank (facing downstream) . There, just across from 
the Cite, a fragment of the plateau advances to 
the very banks of the river. This is the hill of 
Sainte-Genevieve. The road to Orleans reaches the 
river crossing almost without leaving the plateau. 
The place was easily defended on account of its 
height. The Roman city, of which an arena or two 
still remain, was accordingly built here. Hollowed 
out of the limestone are baths and catacombs in which 
the early Christians sought refuge. The right bank, 
on the other hand, was not at all hospitable. It was 
low, its soil a coarse alluvium covered with forests, 
and it was hemmed in between the Seine and an 
old channel of the stream whose location is still 



152 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

indicated by the existing line of great boulevards. 
River floods were constantly filling it up, and even 
to the present day the ancient channel has a tend- 
ency to form again when the river is high, and to 
overflow. At such times water appears welling up 
from beneath, in parts of the city quite remote 
from the Seine. This right bank region, to-day 
the most thickly settled part of Paris, was at that 
time uninhabitable. 

During the reign of the Carolingians the right 
bank was transformed, thanks to the Church. 
Under Charles the Bald a hermitage was established 
near the present rue de Rivoli. Abbeys were built 
in the woods, and the monks cleared and cultivated 
the marshes. The city followed, and little by little 
occupied the newly discovered territory. In the 
fourteenth century it had crept as far as the old 
stream bed, along which the fortiflcations of Charles 
V were built. It did not progress farther in that 
direction for a very long time. A few paved high- 
ways (chaussees), still called by the same names 
(chaussee d'Antin, for example), crossed the marshes, 
but the people hesitated to build upon the unstable 
soil, so easily flooded. It was not until the eight- 
eenth century that the low, moist region was drained 
and made healthful. After that the city at once 
took advantage of the space, and joined to itself 
the suburbs among the hills, that of Flanders at 
the northeast and Batignolles at the northwest. 
Finally, in the nineteenth century, the human tide 



PARIS 153 

climbed the steeps on both sides and overwhelmed 
the old villages on the hilltops, Montmartre and 
Auteuil, for instance. The city walls built in 1840 
included such towns within Paris. This in closure 
still marks the administrative boundaries of the city. 

But no wall could restrain the vitality of Paris. 
A vast suburban area is now welded to the capital 
and reaches out tentacles in every direction. The 
growth is especially marked along the waterways, 
the Seine, Marne, and especially the Saint-Denis 
Canal, which obviates the necessity of traffic follow- 
ing the great bend of the stream. Vincennes, Ivry, 
Alfort, Saint-Maur, and other suburbs on the Marne 
are upstream, and Boulogne, Sevres, Puteaux, 
Neuilly, Levallois, Courbevoie, Asnieres, Saint- 
Ouen, and others on the Seine are downstream, 
while Pantin, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Denis are 
located along the canal. These are all manufac- 
turing towns. Where the plateaus crowd closest to 
Paris the suburbs have spread least ; that is, toward 
the south and east. But the outskirts reach much 
farther, even beyond Versailles, which Louis XIV 
built in the midst of the woods. It may be said 
that within a radius of twenty to thirty miles about 
Paris the people either have their business in the city 
or help to supply its needs while working at home. 

Role and aspect of Paris. Created in the begin- 
ning by transportation facilities, Paris has remained 
a commercial city. It is truly the center of the trade 
of France. Its wharves along the Seine, but 



154 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

especially along the Saint-Denis Canal, which re- 
moves unsightly factories from the beautiful banks 
of the river, constitute much the most important 
port in France. All the great French railways have 
a terminus here. Besides its wholesale commerce, 
Paris has an important retail trade, especially in 
luxuries, which makes it a city unlike any other in 
the world. 

Because of this role of commercial city and of 
luxurious capital, various industries have sprung 
up. Paris has on the spot neither fuel nor raw 
materials, but in addition to its excellent trans- 
portation facilities it has an altogether remarkable 
working population, numerous, intelligent, and ener- 
getic, already long established in the city for com- 
mercial or political reasons. Therefore most of the 
industries of Paris are those dependent on the 
characteristic traits of the population; that is to 
say, industries requiring especial taste, care, and 
originality. Articles distinguished by a certain 
nicety are turned out — clothing, finery, jewelry, 
cabinet work, leather work, and so on. Cruder 
manufactures, such as metallurgy and chemical 
products, are relegated to the suburbs. 

Paris is also a city of pleasure and amusements. 
A great many French and almost as many foreign- 
ers come here regularly to enjoy the gay, brilliant 
life it offers. It is also an administrative center, 
thanks to the remarkable centralization of France. 
But its chief distinction is perhaps in being the 



PARIS 155 

capital of art and literature. The University is the 
largest in the world (about 20,000 students), and this 
city far more than any other in the world attracts, 
in order to perfect them, writers and artists. For 
Paris is like a vast Museum of Fine Arts where 
each succeeding century has left its trace — a cross 
section, as it were, of the history of France. The 
Roman period, for example, is represented by the 
Julian baths ; different epochs of the Middle Ages by 
Saint - Germain - des - Pres, Notre -Dame, the Law 
Courts, and many other buildings; the Renaissance 
by the Louvre; the seventeenth century by the 
Luxembourg and the Invalides ; the eighteenth by the 
Pantheon; the nineteenth by the Arc de Triomphe 
and the Opera — to mention but a few conspicuous 
monuments. 

In its outward appearance and in its arrangement 
the city reflects all these different characteristics. 
The central quarter on the right bank is especially 
given over to wholesale and retail trade. Most of 
the ofhce buildings are emptied at night, their 
occupants living in the suburbs or outskirts, much 
as in great American cities. The east is principally 
the industrial quarter, where the people work both 
in the shop and at 'home. The left bank includes 
the intellectual center, with the University and the 
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the Administration Buildings 
as well as the industrial quarters along the river 
both up- and down-stream, and the aristocratic 
residential district. The west is the rich quarter 



156 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

inhabited by persons who, if not wealthy, at least 
are in comfortable circumstances. 

Paris is much differentiated; it is made up of a 
mass of little provincial cities, as it were, composed 
of immigrants from the whole of France, often 
grouping themselves around the stations where they 
arrive: the Flemings and people of Picardy around 
the Gare du Nord, those of Alsace-Lorraine around 
the Gare de I'Est, Normans around the Gare Saint- 
Lazare, Bretons around the Gare Mont-Parnasse, 
Gascons and Limousins near the Gare d' Orleans, 
people from the Alps, Auvergne, and Provence near 
the Gare de Lyon. Even foreigners form separate 
colonies : Belgians in the north, Italians in the east, 
English and Americans mostly in the rich quarters 
of the west, although many Americans are found 
near the University and the Ecole des Beaux- Arts 
in the well-known Latin Quarter. 

And over this composite whole is spread an 
atmosphere of indefinable charm and harmony, 
blending all incongruities and making Paris, par 
excellence, the city of beauty, culture, and elegance. 



ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 



CHAPTER XIX 

COAL 

Coal is formed of vegetable debris which accu- 
mulated along the shores of ancient continents, 
where it underwent a prolonged pressure owing 
either to a process of folding or to the weight of 
material piled above it. In Europe the best coal is 
the oldest, that which was formed during the so- 
called Carboniferous Period. 

Obviously coal should be found on the site of 
the continents of that period, more especially around 
the margins of those earliest land masses. In France 
several such places have been identified. They are 
the ancient massifs which the Alpine folding has 
more or less uplifted. And it is either on the site 
or around the underground prolongation of these 
land masses that there should be found coal deposits 
worth exploitation. Such massifs are numerous 
and extensive in France: the Ardenne, an eastern 
extension of the Massif Rhenan; the Vosges, the 
Armorican, and the Central Massifs. There are 
even some massifs of the same age inclosed within 
the Alps. These facts would seem to indicate a large 
coal supply for France. Such, however, is not the 
case. Unfortunately, most of these massifs have no 
coal at all around their edges. The vast Armorican 
Massif has none whatever. The Vosges have but 

159 



i6o 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



one small deposit, Ronchamp on their southern 
boundary, yielding about 200,000 tons yearly. The 




Coal Deposits 

Alps are a little better off, for although mining 
is made difficult by the sinuosities of the deposits, 
the need of fuel is so great that the owners succeeded 
in 191 7 in extracting 507,000 tons of anthracite, 
about 37 per cent more than previous to the war. 



COAL i6i 

But the only localities where coal can be mined 
in large quantities are those encircling the margins 
of the Massif Central and in the northern fields 
(the Nord). 

Massif Central. Coal is mined both in the 
interior and around the edges of the Massif Central. 
In the interior the deposits are very limited in 
extent, being scattered here and there about the 
depressed areas. They produce about 600,000 tons 
a year. The margins are much better supplied. 
Toward the north, along the Morvan and on the 
northern boundary of Limousin, little basins, already 
partially exhausted, yield more than a million tons, 
which supply the manufactures of Montlugon. At 
the southwest, the two fields of Aubin and Carmaux 
in 191 7 yielded 2,600,000 tons. Close at hand are 
the iron works of Aubin-Decazeville and the glass 
works of Carmaux. But the most richly endowed 
border is the eastern, with its basin of Alais, Saint- 
Etienne, and Montceau-les-Mines, which, together 
with a few other small deposits, in 191 7 yielded 
11,200,000 tons. These beds supply the metal- 
lurgical industries of Alais, the textile, metal, and 
glass works of the Saint-Etienne region, and the 
manufactures of Lyon and Le Creusot. Further- 
more, an extension of the Saint-Etienne coal basin 
southeast of Lyon and even as far as the plain of the 
Saone has recently been discovered, and the exploita- 
tion of that deposit will be of the greatest importance 
to Lyon and its vicinity. 
11 



i62 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Plain of the Nord. But the Plain of the Nord 
is far richer. The coal deposits which follow the 
northern margin of the ancient massif of the Ardenne 
in Belgium are found at a greater depth along the 
subterranean continuation of that massif in France. 
In the eighteenth century mining began between the 
Belgian frontier and Douai, but the extension of the 
deposits toward Artois was not discovered nor 
utilized until about i860. This coal basin therefore 
consists of two parts : the one located in the depart- 
ment of the Nord is the poorer of the two, yielding 
in 1 9 13 but 8,000,000 tons, mined in Anzin, Aniche, 
and the Escarpelle. The other, situated in the 
department of Pas-de-Calais, richer and more scien- 
tifically exploited, in 19 13 yielded 22,000,000 tons, 
the principal centers being Courrieres, Lens, Lievin, 
Noeux, Bethune, Maries, Bruay. Thus the total 
production of the basin was 30,000,000 tons, more 
than twice that of all the other mines of France. 
This coal supplied the great industries of the Nord, 
was shipped to Paris, and by barge even to Lyon. 
During the Great War three-quarters of this coal 
basin was in the hands of the Germans, and that 
part which- remained under French control, although 
its output was pushed to the limit, was able to yield, 
in 191 7, only 11,500,000 tons. 

With a total production in 19 13 of 40,000,000 
tons of coal, three-quarters of which came from the 
Plain of the Nord, France produced in 1915, follow- 
ing the invasion, only 16,000,000 tons. In 191 7 



COAL 163 

by superhuman effort the total was raised to 29,000,- 
000 tons. Let us not forget that with this reduced 
output the country created and carried on an im- 
mense war industry, manufacturing heavy artillery 
and supplying its Allies as well as itself with ammu- 
nition and other war material. Let us also not for- 
get that the Germans have destroyed the best 
mines in the Nord, so that for four or five years 
France will be unable to equal its pre-war figure of 
40,000,000 tons. 

Moreover, even this total was absolutely inade- 
quate for the country's needs. In 1913 France 
imported for industrial purposes 20,000,000 tons of 
English, Belgian, and German coal. Attempts have 
been made to supply the deficit by sinking numerous 
shafts in the deeper underlying rocks of Lorraine 
and along the southern margin of the Ardenne. 
Small yields can be looked for in those localities. 
But they will by no means supply the demand. In 
order to carry on her revived industries France more 
than ever will be obliged to import fuel from abroad. 



CHAPTER XX 
WHITE COAL 

As if to make up in part for an insufficient supply 
of coal, France fortunately possesses in her mountain 
streams reserves of power which she is beginning to 
make use of on a large scale. The falling water is 
confined in turbines, and its force is thus transformed 
into an electric current which can be used either on 
the spot or, by transmission, at a distance. 

In order to convert the water into power, a steep 
grade is necessary, so the white-coal, or hydro- 
electric, power plants are established either in the 
mountains or along their margins. Such regions in 
France are the Vosges, the Jura, the Massif Central, 
the Pyrenees, and the Alps. 

Vosges and Jura. The Vosges and the Jura have 
few white-coal plants because the streams of these 
localities have long been utilized as motive power 
for mere mill wheels of innumerable small factories 
in the valleys. The only use of water under pres- 
sure — white coal — is for the lighting of the local 
towns and villages. 

Massif Central. The Massif Central has the 
advantage of steep gradients, especially on its 
eastern front and in its volcanic area. But on the 
other hand, the watercourses of these localities are 
very irregular in flow. Whereas in summer they 

164 



WHITE GOAL 165 

are almost dry, in the autumn they turn into for- 
midable torrents. Their power has long been used 
by a multitude of small factories, and not without 
difficulty could it be made to supply more. Only 
the great streams, the Loire and the Allier, contain 
enough water for operation at all seasons, and even 
these will be utilizable only after an outlay of much 
capital for necessary machinery. On the other 
hand, the watercourses on the western borders of 
the massif, fed by rains from the Atlantic, are much 
more regular. So, in spite of a gentler gradient, the 
chief power plants have been established on this 
slope, along the Cher, the Vienne, the Dordogne, 
the Lot, and their tributaries. The power generated 
has a minimum estimated value of 900,000 horse 
power with 1,800,000 horse power as the mean force 
which the watercourses of this region are capable 
of yielding. 

Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are better supplied 
with watercourses. They are much higher than the 
Massif Central, with an abundant rainfall (except 
at the east), and as the snow remains well into the 
summer, and there are even a few small glaciers, 
the streams have plenty of water and are steady in 
flow. The gradients of these streams are steep and 
irregular, because the abruptness with which the 
mountains end causes the valleys to fall off suddenly 
to the plain below. Countless high lakes serve as 
reservoirs. If no large trunk streams are available, 
as in the Alps, at least there are countless rivers of 



i66 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

more or less importance, the lowest estimate of 
whose minimum possible yield is 1,000,000 horse 
power. Very little had been done previous to the 
war. But during the last three years important 
power plants have been established, especially at 
the west and in the center. The electrification of 
all the railways in the vicinity of the Pyrenees may 
be looked for in the near future. 

Alps. But the region of the Alps is by far the 
most favored, as much on account of the initiative of 
the inhabitants as on account of the natural advan- 
tages. For this is where the white-coal industry was 
brought to life. It was utilized for the first time near 
Grenoble by three enterprising men, one from the 
Alps, one from the Pyrenees, and one from the Massif 
Central — affording a curious example of geograph- 
ical influence on industry. This is also where 
long-distance transmission of power was tried for the 
first time. Here are utilized either the high water- 
falls whose small volume of water is conducted" 
through turbines from a height of 1,000 to 3,000 
feet, or low falls, where an entire river may be con- 
fined in enormous conduits and allowed to fall only 
50 to 150 feet. Fortunately the Alpine streams are 
very constant in flow. Their high-water mark is 
reached in summer when the snow and ice are melting 
in the mountains, and they do not dry up in winter, 
thanks to an abundant rainfall. The conditions 
controlling the flow of high-mountain streams not 
being the same as those governing the rivers of low 



WHITE COAL 167 

mountains, the factories making use of one source 
of supply can supplement it with the other if neces- 
sary at different seasons. This is made possi- 
ble by the fact that most of the white-coal factories 
of the northern Alps are electrically connected. 
This solidarity is one of the most remarkable in- 
stances of the industrial progressiveness of France. 
Lastly, the width of the great Alpine valleys enables 
the manufacturers making use of white coal to locate 
in the very heart of the mountains, preventing loss 
of power inevitable with transmission. 

Thus we see that the French Alps are very rich in 
electric power. Estimates of the minimum force 
available show 4,000,000 horse power, while a mean 
estimate gives 8,000,000 horse power. Previous to 
the war the power in use by already established fac- 
tories amounted to 700,000 horse power only. In 
the midst of war this total has been raised by 300,000 
horse power, and the construction of power plants 
has progressed with amazing rapidity, all available 
labor being made use of, especially German prisoners 
of war. Important industries have sprung up in the 
heart of the Alps — electro-metallurgy, electro- 
chemistry, and paper manufacture. Besides the 
force supplying these industries, much power is 
transmitted outside the mountain area, from the 
southern Alps to Marseille and Nice, from the 
northern Alps to Lyon and even to Saint-Etienne, 
where it competes with coal. Projected plans will 
raise the potentiality to 1,500,000 horse power in 



i68 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

1920. Besides this, there remains to be developed 
the Rhone, whose abundant, swift-moving waters 
will give a mean total of 700,000 horse power. So 
in southeastern France the scanty coal supply will 
be in part compensated for. 

As far as the development of white coal is con- 
cerned, France ranks high. In fact, thanks to the 
exploitation of Alpine streams, she is second in 
Europe only to Norway, whose natural advantages 
are much superior. The rapid spread of this youth- 
ful industry (even in the midst of war) is, as it were, 
the symbol of the surprising elasticity of France, 
who, as her enemies wished to have the world believe, 
was degenerating and exhausted. 



CHAPTER XXI 

METALS AND METALLURGY 

The lack of coal in France is almost equaled by 
the scarcity of metals. In general, ancient moun- 
tain areas produce abundant seams of metals; such 
is the case with the massifs of Germany, Bohemia, 
Spain, and the primary rocks of the Rockies. But 
in France the ancient massifs are widely extensive 
to no purpose at all. They are no richer in min- 
erals than in coal, A little silver-bearing lead is 
found in Brittany, gold in the Armorican Massif, and 
zinc in the Massif Central, but these deposits are 
all unimportant and without a future. In addition 
to the deposits in the primary massifs, the Medi- 
terranean region of France has somewhat extensive 
deposits of bauxite, a red clay from which aluminum 
is extracted. But except for these deposits and for 
iron, France is obliged to import all her metal supply 
from abroad. Hence the industries treating these 
metals are all located near the frontiers, or the ports, 
in the north and on the lower Loire. 

Fortunately iron is very abundant in France, so 
much so that she can export it, and to a certain 
extent this compensates for her lack of other 
minerals. 

History of metallurgy. Iron is found all over 
the surface of the earth, in all sorts of soils, and ii; 

169 



lyo 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



rocks of all ages. So it is found in all parts of France. 
It has been worked almost everywhere and used 




Metallurgy Centers 

for various purposes. The iron industry, under 
the kings, was carried on in the plains as well as in 
the mountains. Nevertheless there were certain 
regions where it was more actively carried on than 
elsewhere; for instance, those where the ore wa§ 



METALS AND METALLURGY 171 

found in abundance, principally limestone regions, 
or where fuel was easily obtainable, such as the 
wooded plateaus of upper Burgundy and the Jura. 

But in the nineteenth century the use of coal, 
industrial concentration, and the development of 
mines on a large scale, necessitating good transpor- 
tation facilities, put the little forges out of commis- 
sion. Ore and fuel being heavy and bulky, it was 
desirable, at least as far as first processes are con- 
cerned, to avoid transportation. Metallurgy was 
therefore so organized that smelting took place at 
the mines; that is, what may be called primary 
metallurgy, which exists in regions producing the 
mineral. Cast iron, wrought iron, and steel when 
once reduced , can better stand the cost of trans- 
portation. They can then be reworked in places 
which, although possessing no raw materials, can 
furnish more favorable conditions. Four such con- 
ditions — fuel, motive power, an abundant or skilled 
labor supply, an old tradition of manufacture — 
control what is known as secondary metallurgy. 

Primary metallurgy. By primary metallurgy is 
meant the reduction of ore to metal. Establish- 
ments for this purpose are located close to the 
mines, except one which is near a coal supply. 

Lorraine. The most important iron deposits are 
in Lorraine, where, in the limestone plateau ter- 
minating in the Cotes de Moselle, a thick layer of 
phosphorous ore is found. The development began 
only after 1880, but real progress has been still more 



172 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

recent, 3,000,000 tons of ore being produced in 1895, 
6,000,000 in 1905, 14,000,000 in 1911, 19,000,000 
in 1 9 13 — altogether some nine-tenths of the total 
iron production of France. Some of this supply 
was shipped to other parts of France or sent abroad, 
but 10,000,000 tons were worked on the spot. The 
region supplied more than half of the steel used in 
France, three-quarters of the cast iron, two-thirds 
of the rails and I-beams. New cities sprang up and 
grew with American rapidity. The population of 
Joeuf jumped from 1,000 to 30,000 in fifteen years. 
The difficulties which France faced during the war 
can be imagined when one remembers that this 
region which was indispensable for her production of 
metals was in the hands of the Germans from 
August, 1 9 14, to November, 191 8. 

Massif Armoricain. Other mineral deposits were 
discovered and exploited northeast of the Massif 
Armoricain not far from Caen. In 19 10 the out- 
put was 500,000 tons, in 1913 it was 1,000,000 tons, 
and since then it has been greater still. Part of it 
was exported previous to the war, but during the war 
the entire output was worked on the spot in newly 
constructed blast furnaces which are said to be the 
biggest in the world. Thus there has grown up in 
Normandy a center of metallurgy served by the port 
of Caen. 

Plain of the Nord. Lastly, thanks to water trans- 
portation of the minerals of Lorraine or Algeria by 
way of Dunkerque, the Plain of the Nord also 



METALS AND METALLURGY 173 

manufactured iron and steel in the vicinity of the 
coal fields. But progress in this region was less 
marked than in Lorraine. 

Secondary metallurgy. Not ore but metal is 
treated by secondary metallurgy, which turns the 
metal into finished products. These products, 
more valuable because they have gone through the 
expensive process of reduction as well as because 
they are less bulky, can better bear the cost of trans- 
portation. Therefore conditions governing the loca- 
tion of these industries are more complex. The 
three chief conditions are the following; 

First, an ancient industry which existed because 
of mineral deposits now exhausted may still survive. 
But such a survival is possible only if the region has 
good transportation facilities, as throughout the 
upper Marne valley, all along the canal from the 
Marne to the Saone (Saint-Dizier), also in the 
Ardenne, along the valley of the Meuse between 
Mezieres and Givet. Possessing neither fuel nor ore, 
these centers are the least prosperous. 

Secondly, mills may be established near a fuel 
supply. These are the most important of all. Such 
mills, when not taken over by the enemy, supplied 
France with munitions and war materials. The 
most prosperous group was that of the Nord, 
along the coal basin and at its margins (Lille, 
Maubeuge) , where machinery and rolling stock were 
manufactured. The largest center was that of 
Denain. Around the margins of the Massif Central, 



174 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Montlugon and Guerigny at the north and Decazeville 
and Alais at the south are situated near small coal 
deposits. Lastly, Le Creusot and the whole group 
of Saint-Etienne, with their fuel close at hand, 
manufactured most of the war material. The indus- 
tries of the ports where foreign coal is imported 
might also be included under this heading — the 
foundries of the lower Loire, of the Gironde, and 
of the Adour. 

Thirdly, motive power of the streams has deter- 
mined the location of factories in the heart of the 
mountains, in spite of poor transportation facilities. 
Such is the case in the Pyrenees, but this fact is even 
more strikingly illustrated in the Alps. Electro- 
metallurgy is established in the deep valleys, pro- 
ducing synthetic iron from the rebuilding of scraps 
— a process which was invented here — aluminum, 
ammunition, and special steels made with the aid 
of such minerals as vanadium, manganese, and 
tungsten. The most important center of these 
industries is Grenoble. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY 

The textile industry is traditional and widespread 
in France, owing largely to the fact that the country, 
thanks to its climate and its soil, once produced 
the principal raw materials, silk, wool, flax, and 
hemp, though the production of all of them has 
greatly decreased during the last hundred years. 

Silk is produced in the southeast under Mediter- 
ranean influences, for this is the only climate in 
France sufliciently hot and dry to develop and 
hatch the silkworm. The principal areas of culti- 
vation are the valleys of the Cevennes and Vivarais, 
and the basins in the valley of the lower Rhone. 
Silkworm culture is constantly decreasing, how- 
ever, because of the invasion of Italian and oriental 
raw silk, which is produced by a cheaper labor sup- 
ply and is consequently not so expensive as native 
silk. 

Wool was very abundant as long as the practice 
of rotation of crops required, every so often, fallow 
years, during which time the land furnished pastur- 
age for sheep. The complete abandonment of this 
agricultural practice has banished the sheep, except 
in the very poorest regions, such as Champagne, 
the southern Alps, the eastern Pyrenees, and the 
interior of the Mediterranean region. Therefore 

175 



176 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

the production of wool has decreased, especially as 
the number of animals slain very young has greatly 
increased. 

Flax and hemp are diminishing even more rapidly. 
Their cultivation requires a rich soil and constant 
care. The depopulation of the rural districts is 
therefore bad for these crops. They are raised only 
in small quantities in the north and in the valleys 
of Maine. 

Consequently French textile industries must 
import almost all their raw materials — cotton from 
the United States, silk from Italy, the Orient, and 
the Far East, wool from Argentina and Australia, 
flax and hemp from Russia, and jute from India. 
This state of affairs implies one important condition 
for the industries using these materials ; that is, that 
they be located as near as possible to the ports of 
arrival — in other words, either near the sea or near 
large trade centers. Yet at the same time many 
of these industries, for the most part of long stand- 
ing, bound by many links to the past, have a tend- 
ency to remain in the old centers of production of 
raw materials. Moreover, as they require an enor- 
mous labor supply, some of them have taken root 
just because of the presence of such a supply. 
From this complex condition of affairs three princi- 
pal types of industries can be singled out. 

Industrial centers near a former base of supplies. 
The location of many small groups which are only 
the relics of ancient textile industries as they existed 



THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY 



177 



before the introduction of modern conditions is 
explained by the nearness of some former base of 




Textile Centers 

supplies. The blanket factories of Orleans were 
established because of wool grown in Beauce, the 
woolen industry of Romorantin and Chateauroux 
because of the wool of Berry, the hosiery manu- 
facture of Troyes as well as the woolen industry 
12 



178 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

of Reims and Sedan because of the wool of Cham- 
pagne; while the linen factories of Maine depended 
on an earlier cultivation of flax and hemp. 

An up-to-date illustration of the survival of an 
earlier manufacture is the group of Lyon, situated 
near the center of silkworm culture. But here there 
were other advantages as well — proximity to the 
Italian and oriental silk markets, and the existence 
of an abundant labor supply near the Rhone and 
along the border of the Massif Central. These 
conditions attracted other textile factories, cotton 
and woolen, for instance. Hence it appears that 
the group of Lyon is very complex, more so perhaps 
than others because of the many processes through 
which the valuable and delicate textile, silk, is 
obliged to pass. Several of these processes may 
be noted: reeling off the cocoons, spinning, and 
milling — operations in which machinery is of little 
help and which require female hand labor. These 
specialties are carried on mostly along the margins 
of the Alps and the Massif Central. Then there is 
weaving, which used to be concentrated in Lyon, 
but which has almost entirely left the city because 
of a cheaper and very abundant labor supply in 
the country; next, there is finishing-off (dyeing 
and dressing), confined to Lyon itself; and finally, 
allied industries, such as the making of ribbons at 
Saint-Etienne, of chiffons at Tarare, of cotton goods 
at Roanne, and of woolen goods at Vienne. In 
this way the existence of a former center of silk 



THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY 179 

production has created an enormous industrial 
region in which the contribution of French raw silk 
is no longer more than a detail. 
Industrial center near the unloading ports. The 

best example of an industrial center near the unload- 
ing ports is Normandy. Here also the industry is 
traditional and has long been favored by the culti- 
vation of flax and hemp in the vicinity, as well as 
by the presence of labor supplied by the rich farming 
communities near at hand. But textile manufacture 
has always been encouraged by the ease with which 
raw materials could be imported by sea — formerly 
wool from England and Spain, and since the eight- 
eenth century, cotton from America. Woolen manu- 
facture has almost entirely disappeared, but spinning 
and weaving of cotton continue to prosper at Rouen, 
both in its suburbs and along the valley of the Seine, 
and near Dieppe. 

Centers well supplied with labor. The largest 
groups of textile manufactories in France, those of 
Lorraine and the north, owe their importance chiefly 
to their abundant labor supply. 

Lorraine. Until the manufacturers of Mulhouse 
decided not many years ago to make use of the poor 
peasant populations of the upper valley of the 
Moselle, Lorraine had no textile industry. After 
187 1 the enterprise grew on account of the arrival 
of great numbers of Alsatians, who went to the 
Vosges to establish new factories. Little by little 
Lorraine has become the most important center of 



i8o GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

cotton manufacture, with almost half of the spindles 
in France and more than half of the looms. The 
industry shows a tendency to move down toward 
the plain, where better transportation facilities are 
to be found. 

The group of the north. Previous to the war 
the group of the north was the most important as 
well as the most complex of all. Its prosperity was 
due to several causes. Like the group of Lyon, 
it was connected with a very ancient use of local 
raw materials, flax of- Flanders, wool of Artois. By 
way of Dunkerque it was also within easy reach of 
imports. But the chief factor in its development 
was undoubtedly the presence of abundant labor 
furnished by the overpopulated adjoining regions, 
including Belgian Flanders. This fact explains the 
great industrial centers so near to the frontier — Lille 
with linen and cotton, Armentieres and the cities 
of the Lys with linen, Roubaix and Tourcoing with 
woolen goods as their chief products. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE INDUSTRIAL REGIONS 

Several conditions are required for the establish- 
ment and the development of industries in a given 
region : first, the presence either of coal or of a cheap 
motive power; second, the presence of raw materials ; 
third, an abundant labor supply; fourth, transpor- 
tation facilities for the importation of fuel or raw 
materials as well as for the ready exportation of the 
finished products. Four regions in France possess 
in whole or in part these advantages, and have 
therefore become important industrial centers. 

The region of the north. So far as industries are 
concerned the region of the north, including Picardy, 
possesses most of the conditions favorable to great 
economic activity. It has the fuel, thanks to its 
coal basin, which in 1913 yielded 30,000,000 tons. 
Raw materials are less abundant, and are confined 
to agricultural products. But good transportation 
facilities and the proximity of excellent ports like 
Dunkerque and Antwerp made the importation of 
the necessary raw materials comparatively easy. 
The region also had an abundant native supply of 
labor. These favorable conditions brought about 
the development of an industrial center comparable 
to the most important in Western Europe, furnish- 
ing employment to about a million persons, 

181 



i82 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Of this number, textile manufactures employed 
about 300,000 — 60,000 for linen, 70,000 for woolen, 
30,000 for cotton, the others for trimmings, laces 
and nets, blankets and carpets, hosiery, machine 
embroidery, velvet and plush, and lastly, dyeing, 
bleaching, and dressing. Metallurgy came next as 
far as numbers were concerned, employing 140,000 
persons, 118,000 in primary metallurgy alone. 
Clothing manufacture employed 136,000 persons, a 
great percentage of whom turned out ready-made 
garments. Mines had 110,000 workmen, 76,000 of 
whom were in the Pas-de-Calais. Such were the 
chief industries of the region. But its advantages 
are such that many other branches of manufacture 
were attracted, woodworking employing 59,000 per- 
sons; tanneries and shoe factories, 34,000; glass 
works and porcelain factories, 30,000; chemical 
works, 15,000; breweries, 15,000; sugar factories, 
12,000; rubber factories, 7,000. Finally, the number 
of persons employed in transportation, as many as 
58,000, completes the economic inventory of the 
region. 

The region of the east. Having developed large 
industries only during the last forty years, the east 
is much less advanced than the north. Fuel must 
be imported, and transportation is not so easy as in 
the north. The region being thinly settled, it was 
necessary to import labor. On the other hand, raw 
materials — iron, rock salt, and wood — are found 
here in abundance. 



THE INDUSTRIAL REGIONS 1S3 

The most important industry was textile manufac- 
turing, employing 100,000 persons. The cotton mills 
of the Vosges and the plain of Lorraine employed 
55,000 workmen, embroidery and lace factories, 
25,000. Lorraine heads the list in France as far 
as cotton manufacturing is concerned. Iron mining 
and reduction come next, with 64,000 employees. 
If the number seems sm.all it is because primary 
metallurgy, which predominates here, requires rela- 
tively few laborers. Other groups are much less 
important: there are 39,000 mill hands for cloth, 
23,000 for wood, 14,000 for food supplies, 11,500 for 
glass and porcelain, 11,400 for hides and skins, 5,600 
for chemical products, 5,000 for paper. Comparisons 
with the north are enlightening: 15,000 employees 
of transportation lines, both railways and water- 
ways, as against 58,000 in the north, with a total of 
300,000 workmen in comparison to 1,000,000 in 
the north. 

These two industrial groups hardly exist to-day. 
That of the north is confined to the western part of 
the Pas-de-Calais. The iron industry of Lorraine 
is destroyed. The reconstruction of these industries 
may be considered among the gravest problems 
facing France at the present time. 

The region of Lyon. Remote from the battle- 
front, the region of Lyon really profited by the 
war. It is less compact than the northern and 
eastern regions on account of the nature of the 
country. It collects all sorts of industries about 



1 84 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

the great city as a center. The coal basins around 
the Massif Central furnish fuel, and the hydro- 
electric plants of the Alps transmit to the region 
a part of their power. The labor supplied by the 
poor inhabitants of the neighboring mountains is 
sufficient. On the other hand, the local raw mate- 
rials are no longer adequate, and neither is the means 
of transportation, because navigation on the Rhone 
is not to be depended upon. Thus, conditions are 
less favorable than in the north. 

Here also textile industries take the lead, with 
240,000 persons, 166,000 of whom are employed for 
silk-manufacture (spinning, 43,000, weaving, 67,000, 
trimming and ribbons, 32,000, etc.). Lace making 
employs 32,000, cotton, 20,000, wool, 6,000. Metal- 
lurgy is very important, with a much larger force 
than in Lorraine — 90,000 before the war. Here 
there is chiefly secondary metallurgy, especially in 
Le Creusot and Saint-Etienne. There are 65,000 
in the lumber business, 50,000 in mining, 25,000 in 
tanneries, 25,000 in glass and porcelain works. 
Before the war the region of Lyon had a total of 
700,000 workmen, about 40,000 of whom were 
employees of transportation lines. Thus it was a 
worthy second to the north. Since the war this 
number may have risen as high as 1,000,000. 

The region of Paris. By far the smallest in area, 
since it is confined to the city and its suburbs, the 
region of Paris nevertheless employed, previous to 
the war, 1,200,000 persons in industries of various 



THE INDUSTRIAL REGIONS 185 

kinds. It may be considered, therefore, the leading 
industrial region of France, notwithstanding the fact 
that it has neither fuel nor raw materials. But 
transportation facilities — railways and waterways — 
are splendidly developed. The point of chief impor- 
tance, however, is that there is an unusual labor 
supply from the viewpoint both of quantity — for 
there are 4,000,000 inhabitants — and of quality — 
for the people are both intelligent and artistic, work- 
men of an intellectual metropolis. It follows that 
most of the Parisian industries, requiring little or 
no machinery or fuel, are dependent on this original 
character of the labor supply; that is to say, they 
are minute and fastidious, entirely different from the 
massive industries of the north, the east, and Lyon. 
Hence textile manufacture, which takes the lead 
in the three other regions, is entirely lacking here. 
In its place, at the head of the list, is the manu- 
facture of clothing — tailoring, dressmaking, milli- 
nery, employing 230,000 persons, 124,000 of whom 
are dressmakers within the city itself! It is true 
that metallurgy takes second place, with 184,000 
employees, a greater number than in the north. But 
it is very specialized metallurgy, extremely varied, 
requiring skilled labor — automobile manufacture, 
wrought-iron work, bronze work, engraving, the 
making of surgical and optical instruments, etc. 
The same is true of the wood-working industry, 
which employs 104,000 persons, most of whom are 
furniture or cabinet makers. The manufacture of 



1 86 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

foodstuffs, with 72,000 employees, specializes in 
preserving and canning, sugar refining, and the 
making of confectionery. Leather workers (60,000) 
make mostly pocketbooks and other fine leather 
articles. The publishing business employs 48,500 
workmen, of whom 30,000 are printers. Pasteboard 
and cardboard manufacture, with 16,000 workmen, 
must be added. There are 22,000 jewelers and 
10,000 feather workers. The suburbs contain almost 
all the rubber factories, employing 6,000 hands, 
also chemical factories with 35,000 and porcelain 
and glass works with as many as 25,000 employees. 
The nature of these Parisian industries, dependent 
as they are upon the importation of raw materials 
and the exportation of the finished products, brings 
out the importance of transportation facilities, the 
business of which in Paris alone employs 124,000 
persons, twice as many as in the north. All these 
facts serve to characterize Parisian industries as 
unique in the world — that is to say, they represent 
industrial activity based upon intellectual and artistic 
qualifications. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
WHEAT 

Before the war France was more an agricultural 
than an industrial country. Over half of her popu- 
Jation was occupied with cultivating the land. 
Hence agricultural products form a large part of. 
her wealth. The most important of these products 
are wheat, cattle, and the vine, which will be dis- 
cussed in this and the two following chapters. 

The development of wheat growing. The raising 
of cereals has been from time immemorial very 
important in France, chiefly because bread is the 
principal food of the French. In order that this 
valuable commodity might be easily obtained with- 
out too much dependence upon transportation, 
wheat was planted wherever it could mature. The 
great increase of population toward the end of the 
eighteenth century resulted in an additional amount 
of land being devoted to cereals, which were planted 
even on poor soils where the yield was small. The 
improvement of means of transportation in the 
nineteenth century brought about two results. 
First, railways could ship to less favored agricultural 
regions grain grown in more favored regions, the 
former thus tending to diminish their supply and the 
latter to increase theirs. Specialization began. 
Second, Western Europe was flooded with foreign 

187 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



wheat grown on the steppes of Russia, the plains 
of America, the Pampa of Argentina — countries 




Principal Wheat Regions 

favored by fertiHty of soil and suitability of climate, 
as well as by economic conditions. Specialization 
was carried still further in Europe as a consequence 
of this invasion. The growing of wheat on poor 
soils had to be given up altogether. It was confined 



WHEAT 189 

to the most productive regions. In certain countries 
like Great Britain wheat cultivation, previous to the 
war, had almost entirely disappeared. France had 
withstood foreign competition only by resorting to 
artificial measures; that is, a protective tariff which 
has enabled French wheat to keep the national 
market for itself almost entirely. 

Wheat regions. Under the influence of these 
various factors wheat growing has been abondoned 
in regions whose soil is poor and climate severe, 
such as the Armorican and Central Massifs, the 
Vosges, the Alps, or the interior of the Mediter- 
ranean area. It is now confined to localities where 
the evenness of the surface lightens agricultural 
labor, and where the soil is composed of deep, 
mellow, fertile loam. It is true that in these rich 
lands wheat has had to compete with industrial 
plants, formerly flax and hemp, and now tobacco, 
chicory, and, above all, sugar beets. But wheat has 
adapted itself to this rivalry in a most satisfactory 
manner. If these crops in rotation have limited it 
to certain years only, wheat culture has profited by 
following a crop which requires intensive methods of 
cultivation. The result is that although the acreage 
of wheat is reduced, the yield has increased to such 
an extent that any shortage is counterbalanced. 

The chief wheat-growing regions are the great 
loam-covered plains of the north of France ; in order 
of importance, Flanders, Picardy, Brie, Beauce, 
Soissonnais. Not only do they have a greater 



I90 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

acreage of wheat than others, but their yield per acre 
is largest. While the average yield in France is i8 
hectoliters (about 50 bushels) a hectare (about 2]/^ 
acres), the Nord gives 27, Brie 26, Beauce 25. In 
these regions cultivation is practiced on a large scale, 
taking on an almost industrial character, with the 
help of improved agricultural machinery and chemi- 
cal fertilizers. Many farm hands are required ; these 
wheat lands, therefore, have always attracted agri- 
cultural immigration. Every year gangs of Belgian 
Flemings came to work in the Plain of the Nord, 
as well as in Brie and Beauce. Bretons also came 
to Beauce, while the weavers who worked in their 
homes left their industrial occupations in summer 
to farm themselves out in the wide fields of Picardy. 
Before the Great War these regions furnished about 
half of the wheat grown in France. 

The other wheat districts are more scattered. 
They are found where there is fine alluvial soil, in 
the valleys of the Garonne and the Loire, including 
Anjou, and also in the west of France — Charente, 
Vendee — where patches of loam upon the surface of 
limestone or crystalline rocks have made possible 
an intensive cultivation greatly aided by modern 
fertilizing methods. 

Previous to the war France was the third producer 
of wheat in the world, following the United States, 
with an average of 19 million tons a year, and 
Russia, with 17 millions. The French yield fluc- 
tuated between 9 million tons (19 10) and 13 million 



WHEAT 191 

(1907). Yet this enormous quantity barely supplied 
the home demand. Hence the difficulties that 
France faced during the war are obvious, and 
due to lack of labor, lack of fertilizers, and espe- 
cially to the destruction and ravages of war in the 
great productive regions — the Nord, Picardy, 
Soissonnais, and even Brie. 



CHAPTER XXV 

CATTLE 

Cattle are one of the greatest resources in France, 
and one which previous to the war was rapidly 
increasing. This advance was due primarily to a 
decrease in the growing of cereals, which has turned 
many good wheat lands over to grass. It was due 
secondly to rural depopulation, which by reducing 
the number of farm hands makes grasslands more 
desirable than cultivated crops, that require much 
more attention. Thirdly, the betterment of social 
conditions has made meat a much more important 
food product than it used to be in France. For these 
reasons cattle raising has become a very remu- 
nerative undertaking. The increase of forage crops 
has made it possible to carry on this enterprise 
almost everywhere. 

Nevertheless the increase in the number of cattle 
does not imply an increase in all domestic animals. 
The number of hogs remains stationary, although hogs 
are universally raised — one might say that almost 
every peasant house has its pig. Sheep are dimin- 
ishing steadily ; it is cattle and horses alone that show 
an increase. At the beginning of 19 14 the num- 
ber of cattle was nearly 15,000,000 head, an increase 
of more than 100,000 since 1913; horses numbered 
3,230,000; sheep, 16,200,000 — 250,000 less than in 

192 



CATTLE 



193 



1 9 13. This decrease in the number of sheep is 
explained by the lack of grazing lands, due to the 




Principal Cattle Regions 

discontinuance of fallow years and the improvement 
of pastures, which makes it possible to raise cattle 
instead of sheep ; hence the latter disappear in favor 
of the former. Little by little sheep have been 
driven back into the dry and arid regions where 
13 



194 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

cattle cannot live: Champagne, Berry, the hills 
and plains of the Mediterranean region, and espe- 
cially the southern mountains — plateaus of the 
Massif Central, southern Alps, and eastern Pyrenees 
— where they furnish good returns. 

Horses and cattle therefore divide the more 
favored localities where humidity and the imper- 
meability of the soil make grass grow luxuriantly. 
A distinction must be made between the places where 
the animals are bred and raised, those where they 
are fattened, and those where their by-products are 
treated. 

Regions of production. In the regions of produc- 
tion young- animals are bred and raised to maturity, 
thus supplying raw material for other localities. To 
do this the regions must have enough forage at their 
disposal. The producing countries are those where 
humidity of climate insures a moist soil requisite for 
the development of grasslands, though it must be 
said that such regions, if fertile, are concerned more 
with the fattening process, which needs very rich 
pasture. So it is the poorer soils especially which 
are given over to cattle raising. This is the con- 
dition for instance, in almost the whole of the 
Armorican Massif, where the cattle are small but 
have many good points. These animals are sold in 
the Paris Basin. This condition also exists in the 
Massif Central, where a famous breed (Salers) is 
raised among the volcanic mountains; and in the 
Pyrenees, the Jura, and the Alps, where the best 



,CATTLE 195 

animals come from the Pre-Alps and the wide valley 
of the Tarentaise. 

While the countries producing cattle are mostly 
poor regions, this fact is not true of localities which 
are given over to the raising of horses. The horse, 
being more valuable and of a higher grade, is a 
product of rich lands. It is raised in Boulonnais 
and on the adjoining highlands of Artois, in Perche, 
and in the plain of Tarbes. 

Regions for fattening. More is required of the 
countries where cattle are fattened, in order to 
develop them, get the most work out of them, and 
at the same time make them fit for market. They 
should be fattened in rich pastures where the work 
demanded of them is not too hard; that is, in flat- 
lands. On the other hand, in order that the animals 
may be shipped without too much expense, the region 
must be easily accessible; that is to say, not far 
from the market. Thus the best regions are those 
which in addition to their natural advantages of 
soil, climate, and relief, have the further advantage 
of being near to centers of population where much 
meat is consumed. 

The French centers of population are especially 
the industrial regions of the Nord, of Paris, and of 
Lyon, and the regions specializing in cattle fattening 
are close at hand. Near to the centers of the 
Nord are the plains of Flanders, where fattening is 
scientifically organized. Near Lyon are the fine 
pastures of Charolais, Bourbonnais, Velay, and 



196 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Bresse. But around Paris are the best pasture 
lands of all; in Normandy there is Bray and the 
valley of Auge, besides the grasslands of Maine, 
and a little farther away from the city the grass- 
lands near the Morvan. 

Lastly, countries possessing no natural pasture 
lands, but having a rich soil and located near large 
markets, have taken up the fattening in barns of 
animals for slaughter, feeding them with artificial 
fodder such as waste from agricultural industries 
and the pulp from sugar refineries and breweries. 
This was the practice in Flanders, also in Picardy, 
which provided Paris and the Nord with fat steers 
known as sucriers (sugar-fattened). 

Regions utilizing the by-products. Cattle have 
other values besides the meat they yield. While 
alive, they furnish milk from which butter and cheese 
are manufactured, and when killed, their skins, bones, 
and fats can also be utilized. All the regions where 
cattle are raised deal in these "by-products. This 
is one of the busiest retail trades in France. Several 
places have specialized in it — some because a very 
luxuriant grass crop gives a special value to the 
butter and cheese, as Normandy, for instance, with its 
Isigny butter and Camembert cheese ; others because 
their special breed of cattle produces unusually good 
milch cows, as Brittany, whose butter is famous; 
while still other regions have attained first rank by 
organizing cooperative societies of producers and 
manufacturing butter by special processes — like 



CATTLE 197 

Charente, Vendee, and Poitou, where to-day the 
best butter in France is made. 

The war has unfortunately reduced cattle in 
France by one-fifth because of the devastation in 
the northeast and because of the enormous amount 
of meat required by the Allied armies. The losses 
in this important source of the wealth of France 
must also be made good. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
THE VINE 

Wine, which is the national drink of France, is 
considered by most Frenchmen an article of diet 
that is as necessary as bread. This fact explains the 
importance of the cultivation of the vine. It is 
the characteristic crop of France, which through its 
cultivation has given to the French peasant his most 
marked- traits. 

Although it can bear the winter cold, the vine 
requires early and protracted heat in summer. On 
this account it is excluded from the northwest of 
France, where the summer is cool, and can grow 
on mountain slopes only up to 2,300 feet in the 
northern and 3,600 feet in the southern Alps. The 
present limit of its cultivation is a line joining the 
Morbihan to Mezieres, passing through Paris. 

South of this line the culture of the vine has 
been much affected by the improvement of trans- 
portation facilities. The railways and the steam- 
boats, making possible the importation into central 
and northern France of wines produced cheaply and 
abundantly in the Mediterranean region and in 
Algeria, have set up a rivalry formidable to all 
vineyards not endowed by nature with actual advan- 
tages of soil and exposure. The acreage under culti- 
vation is therefore much reduced. The vine has 

198 



THE VINE 199 

been relegated to the localities best suited to its 
demands, where, in consequence, the harvest is 
surest. 

Furthermore, the vine toward the end of the 
nineteenth century went through a severe ordeal, 
the ravages of the phylloxera pest, which appeared 
in the south about 1870. At first the pest made 
Httle progress, and the harvest of 1875 was the most 
abundant ever known, with more than 80,000,000 
hectoliters of wine, or about 1,760,000,000 gallons 
(a hectoliter equals about 22 gallons). But begin- 
ning in 1880, the outlook became more and more 
ominous. Between 1880 and 1890 production fell to 
20,000,000 and even as low as 15,000,000 hectoliters. 
The consequences were very serious : loss of wealth, 
increased depopulation of rural districts, immi- 
gration toward Algeria and Tunisia. The misery 
felt throughout the country put even the republican 
form of government to a severe test. 

The struggle against the pest was admirably carried 
on by the rooting up of some of the diseased vine- 
yards, the flooding of others, and finally the replanting 
with American slips which could withstand the 
disease. But since that time these new vineyards 
have been subject to different pests. The vines, 
which seem to have been exhausted by the grafting 
process, now require much more care. This is 
expensive and has raised the cost of production. 
The acreage of vineyards is therefore much smaller 
than before the crisis, and although the production 



200 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



has somewhat increased, the former figures have 
never been equaled. In 1895 there were 26,000,000 




Principal Wine Regions 



hectoHters, in 1898, 32,000,000, in 1900, 67,000,000. 
Since 1900 the harvest has usually fluctuated between 
40,000,000 and 50,000,000 hectoliters, exceeding 
60,000,000 in the best years. It was poor during the 
war because of lack of cultivation, and numberless 



THE VINE 20I 

vineyards which have been left to themselves for 
four years will probably have to be abandoned. 
Hence, although the wine-growing regions were 
almost all beyond the reach of battle, the influence 
of the war has been cruelly felt even there. 

The localities where the vine is grown are of 
two kinds. The one, very small in extent, is an area 
where all conditions favor production — the western 
part of the Mediterranean region. The other 
includes all the rest of France up to the Morbihan- 
Mezieres line, where grapes are an exceptional crop, 
cultivated only here and there where soil and expo- 
sure are advantageous. 

The vine in the Mediterranean region. The plains 
of Roussillon, Bas-Languedoc, and the delta of the 
Rhone are admirably suited to the vine from the 
viewpoint both of climate and of soil. The summer 
is long and hot ; late spring frosts are not to be feared. 
The region is formed of alluvial terraces, light soils 
which warm up quickly and are best suited to the 
vine. Even the heavy clay soils of the lowlands can 
be utilized, since the summer drought is a guarantee 
against failure. Full advantage could be taken of 
these favorable conditions only after cheaper trans- 
portation made possible the sale throughout France 
of the highly colored, somewhat ordinary wines pro- 
duced upon these plains. The extensive cultiva- 
tion of the vine in this locality dates only from the 
middle of the nineteenth century. At the present 
time the vineyards include almost all available land. 



202 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

The industry may be called a monoculture. In 
order to produce wine in great quantities and at a 
moderate price, cultivation is scientific and on a large 
scale, a very different condition of affairs from that 
existing in other French vineyards. The care given 
the vines, the fight against pests, the harvesting, are 
all organized like an industry. What makes this 
cultivation all the more ticklish and difficult is that 
the countless pijocesses of smoking with sulphur or 
sulphate, scalding, etc., must be done at exactly the 
right time, without the least delay, and according to 
weather indications. So certain regions have estab- 
lished weather bureaus for predicting and notifying the 
vine growers of the exact moment at which to begin 
necessary treatments. In spite of a population 
ordinarily sufficient, at certain seasons it is necessary 
to call in outside labor — Spaniards or mountaineers 
from the Pyrenees and the Massif Cefitral. 

The results are remarkable. The region normally 
furnishes half of the entire wine production of France, 
sometimes three-fifths; In 191 2 the harvest was 
27,000,000 hectoliters — -39,000,000 for all of France, 
— 14,000,000 of which came from the department 
of Herault alone. When a hectoliter of wine cost 10 
to 12 francs to produce and could be sold for 80 
francs, the enormous profits earned by growers here 
are plain to be seen. 

Other wine-growing regions. Outside the Medi- 
terranean region the vine is a more exceptional 
crop, occupying only certain favored localities here 



THE VINE 203 

and there, more and more scattered as one goes north. 
To escape the late frosts and to profit by all the 
heat of summer, the plant should be grown only 
on favorable exposures, sunny slopes, and easily 
heated soils. On these fortunate sites vines of 
great value are cultivated, whose harvests are able 
to compensate for high costs and inevitable risks. 
Their culture is undertaken almost entirely by small 
farmers capable of intensive and protracted work, 
who take care of their vineyards with the utmost 
devotion, treating them . a little like a spoiled but 
dearly loved child. During the spring the buds 
must be doused with boiling water from time to 
time to keep off certain parasites, an example of the 
painstaking care involved. 

In a word, the vine is found nearly everywhere, 
but always on favorable exposures, mountain slopes, 
and limestone hillsides. Four principal centers of 
production may be noted, which in extent are more 
and more limited toward .the north. 

Bordeaux. The largest region is the Bordeaux 
center, most favored by the somewhat southern 
climate, the nature of the soil — gravels of Medoc 
and limestone slopes of the valleys of the Garonne 
and Dordogne — and the ease of exportation from 
the great port of Bordeaux. This region has from 
time immemorial supplied foreign trade, and until 
the middle of the nineteenth century it was the 
largest center of the wine industry in France. Its 
production, however, is very small in quantity 



204 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

compared to that of the Mediterranean region, fluc- 
tuating between 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 hectohters. 
But the largest part of this production consists of 
grands vins, expensive wines which are exported all 
over the world. 

Saone-Rhone. The Saone-Rhone center extends 
along the southeastern slopes overlooking the val- 
ley of the Rhone and the plain of the Saone. The 
climate is less favorable than that near Bordeaux. 
Frosts are more to be feared. On the other xiand, 
this productive region has admirable transportation 
facilities, because it is traversed from one end to 
the other by the most important railway in France. 
In the arrangement of the vineyards the already 
exceptional physical conditions are made the most 
of; that is, the vineyards are located in a narrow strip 
between plain and upland. This is shown most 
strikingly in Burgundy, where the vineyards occupy 
a strip not more than a few hundred yards in width. 
The famous wines of the Cote d'Qr are made here — 
Beaune, Nuits, Chambertin, etc. The quality is 
more important than the quantity. The Cote d'Or 
produces on an average 1,000,000 hectoliters. 

Valley of the Loire. From Angers to Orleans, 
the valley of the Loire, as well as the tributary 
valleys, has good exposures on the hillsides, and 
the wine growers profit by the fact that they are 
near or surrounded by regions which cannot grow 
the vine at all. The yield varies from 3,000,000 to 
6,000,000 hectoliters. 



THE VINE 205 

Champagne. ' Beyond, toward the northeast, the 
vine can be grown profitably in only a very limited 
area, and its harvest is most uncertain. Such 
is the case on the Cotes de Moselle and the C6tes 
de Meuse. The most important center is that of 
the escarpments of Champagne, where the culture 
of the vine has been carefully maintained, thanks to 
the value of the plants and the unique processes of 
fermentation. The yield is small, between 100,000 
and 300,000 hectoliters, but wines raised in distant 
regions are sent to be reworked and transformed in 
the cellars of Champagne. 

Thus it appears that the production of wine has gone 
through an extensive evolution in France. It tends 
to concentrate, to leave regions where cultivation 
of the vine is difficult and the yield small, for those 
which can produce expensive or abundant wines. 
This change is very important, because the vine is 
perhaps the largest single crop in France, or at any 
rate the one to which the peasant is most partial. 
Vineyards give employment to more than 1,500,000 
growers, for the most part small landholders who are 
active and enterprising, democratically inclined, and 
much attached to the soil and to the cause of freedom. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 

France has a remarkable system of roads, the 
finest in the world, to which the present widespread 
use of automobiles gives added importance. The 
most inaccessible regions are provided with them, 
and there is not a remote village, no matter how 
vSmall, which cannot communicate with the outside 
world by means of a well-kept road. 

The railway system is longer than that of any other 
country in western Europe except Germany. But it 
has its faults. Planned especially to connect the 
provinces with the capital, it is too much centered at 
Paris, the point of departure for almost all through 
lines. During the last twenty -five years a few trans- 
verse trunk lines have been built — Calais-Bale, 
Lille-Nancy, and one from the Atlantic to Geneva 
via Lyon. It will be necessary to add to these 
still further, and the important east-west American 
line will help considerably in this respect. 

But the high cost of transportation by railway 
has shown the importance of waterways. The 
development of the latter has preference in the pro- 
gram of proposed public works to-day. The water- 
ways can of course be only peripheral ; that is to say, 
they .must go around the Massif Central. Even the 
low regions surrounding this massif are not all 

.206 



TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 207 

equally well adapted to water transportation. 
From a physical and economic point of view 
the north and the east have the advantage. For 
the most regular and peaceful streams with the 
gentlest grades are found there — the Seine and its 
tributaries, the rivers of the north, also the Meuse 
and the Saone, whose valleys are separated only 
by insignificant highlands. The great industrial 
regions are located there, centers of the north, of 
the east, of Paris, of Lyon, which necessarily require 
good transportation facilities. The streams of the 
south and west are more unmanageable, the Rhone 
on account of its steep grade, the Loire and the 
Garonne on account of their irregular, changeable 
flow. But as the industrial resources of these 
regions are fewer, the demand for transportation is 
less imperative. Thus it follows that only in the 
north and in the east has a satisfactory system of 
navigable waterways been achieved. Elsewhere 
nearly everything still remains to be done. 

Systems of the north and east. Navigable water- 
ways are very numerous in the north and east, and 
very well planned. Usually they can accommodate 
boats drawing a little more than nine feet carrying a 
load of three hundred tons. This network of water- 
ways is made up of several parts : First, the system 
of the north, composed of rivers (the Aa, Lys, Deule, 
Scarpe, Escaut, Sambre) flowing toward Belgium, 
and of the canals joining them, extending from the 
North Sea to the Oise. The traffic on some of 



208 



GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 



these waterways, those in the coal districts, for 
instance, before the war exceeded 6,000,000 tons a 





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A, 1 








^ "Con.du Nord /\^^^,j-^ S'-^ '•, 


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t» '•>_p=^!J,-^ — ~ v^ ^./TSClX K ^ »»x aI^* 

A Nantes ^-^ ^'''O' <ro,;V \^ '^^/^'^ 


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Waterways 



year. This system, by far the most crowded of all, 
was connected with Paris by the Canal of Saint- 
Quentin and the Oise. That was the busiest water- 
way in France, and the pre-war tonnage amounted 
to almost 8,000,000 tons yearly. The canal was so 



TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 209 

congested in spite of electric traction that it became 
necessary to dig another canal, the Canal du Nord, 
connecting Douai with Paris direct, by way of 
Peronne and Noyon. The fighting along its banks 
was so intense that the canal, barely finished in 
1 9 14, was destroyed before it could be used. 

The system of the north is connected with that 
of the east by a line of navigable waterways joining 
the Oise to the Aisne and the Aisne to the Marne 
where it connects with the Marne-Rhine Canal, 
thus serving also as a link between the east and 
Paris. This is the route by which coal and coke 
are shipped to the east from the north, and, in the 
opposite direction, the one by which the ores and 
metals of Lorraine are shipped west. Lorraine has 
an excellent system of waterwaps, the Meuse and 
the Moselle with their canals, as well as the Marne- 
Rhine Canal and Canal de I'Est. 

Lastly, all the industrial centers of the north and 
east connect by water with the region of Lyon. 
From Alsace and from Lorraine the Rhone-Rhine 
Canal and the Canal de I'Est connect with the 
Saone. From the north the direct route to Lyon 
is via the Marne-Saone Canal, which sends coal 
from the Pas-de-Calais to the market of Lyon. 
Between Paris and Lyon there is, on the one hand, 
the Burgundy Canal; on the other, a canal con- 
sisting of three parts, that of the Loing, the lateral 
canal of the Loire, and the Canal du Centre, which 
serves a very busy region — Roanne and Le Creusot. 
14 



2IO GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

This entire system of waterways is therefore intri- 
cate and crowded. To it Paris owes its role as a great 
port, with a tonnage in 1913 of almost 14,000,000 
tons. The only improvements necessary are the 
deepening of' certain canals which are at present 
too shallow, and .the construction of a canal from 
the northern industrial centers to those of the east, 
directly connecting the coal fields of the Nord with 
the iron mines of Lorraine. 

Systems of the south and west. The remainder 
of France unfortunately is not as well supplied with 
waterways. The natural waterways are insufficient, 
needing many improvements. There is less freight, 
and the railway companies have prevented the 
development of waterways as much as possible. At 
present there is only one large canal, which, from a 
commercial point of view, is very inadequate — the 
Canal des Deux-Mers, parallel to the Garonne and 
joining that river to the Rhone. Its tonnage does 
not amount to 500,000 tons yearly. In the southern 
part of the Paris Basin the canals of Berry, which 
are too narrow and too shallow, supply the indus- 
trial center of Montlugon. The canals of Brittany 
have a merely nominal traffic. 

Much remains to be done in developing the water- 
ways. This is another of the great undertakings for 
the next few years. A project is under way for 
regulating the Loire between Orleans and Nantes. 
It has already been put into operation between 
Nantes and Angers. La Rochelle is thinking about 



TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 211 

a connection with the Loire, and of one from there 
to the Saone. And lastly, the enterprising region 
of the southeast is intending to make the Rhone 
navigable all the way from the Mediterranean to 
Geneva, in order to secure the trade of Switzerland 
and to develop the already active industries of the 
region. The spirit of initiative which characterizes 
this part of France leads one to hope for the reali- 
zation of this great undertaking and that it may be 
accomplished in a not too distant future. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE COLONIAL EMPIRE 

The colonial empire of France is second only to 
that of Great Britain. It was a great help during 
the Great War, giving freely both\of men and of 
supplies. This empire is very composite, because 
it has been built up haphazard, not according to 
any particular plan. Of the vast possessions of 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — eastern 
Canada as far as the Great Lakes, Louisiana, West 
Indies, the Deccan — there remain only fragments: 
the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, two islands 
of the West Indies, Guiana, five cities in India, and 
a few islands in the Indian Ocean. In the nineteenth 
century the monarchy of 1830 and especially the 
Second Empire had a somewhat incoherent colonial 
policy, but a profitable one nevertheless, for this 
policy brought to France Algeria, Cochin- China, 
Senegal, and various oceanic islands. Credit should 
be given to the Third Republic for conceiving and 
creating a real empire, adding Morocco and Tunisia 
to Algeria, and exploring and occupying the Sahara, 
the Sudan, the banks of the Congo, and Madagascar, 
as well as conquering nine-tenths of French Indo- 
China and organizing it throughout. 

This empire, which is eighteen times as large as 
France, with a population of 50,000,000, is extremely 



THE COLONIAL EMPIRE 213 

varied. It includes the original colonies — relics of 
the past — besides countries in North Africa suited 
to colonization and vast regions suited only for 
exploitation. 

The old colonies. Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, 
Guadeloupe and Martinique, French Guiana, the 
Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and five 
cities of India are all integral parts of France; 
that is to say, their inhabitants are represented in 
the French parliament somewhat after the manner 
of Algeria. With the exception of the colony of 
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, which is only a fishing 
station near Newfoundland, they are all tropical 
regions raising coffee and sugar cane. Their eco- 
nomic activity is of little consequence. 

Countries suited to colonization. North Africa, 
on the other hand, is the keystone of the colonial 
empire of France. This region is really a part of 
Mediterranean Europe into which the mountains 
of Italy and Spain extend. From every point of 
view it is very different from the great African table- 
land of the interior. The climate and vegetation are 
identical with those of southern Spain and Sicily. 
It is true that the presence of two long chains of 
mountains surrounding the high plateaus makes it 
rather rugged. But the rich coast plains and the 
inland basins are capable of yielding plentiful har- 
vests, especially with the help of irrigation, which is 
very successfully practiced. European agriculture has 
^spread over the coast ranges of Algeria, where cereals, 



214 (3i<:of;kAPHv oi*' in<ANc:i^: 

the vine, olives, and oarly vegetables arc; raised. 
1'1)<; plat(;aus arc; Ixj^inning tc) c;xf)orim.c;nt with clry- 
farniin;^, hut llicir pi-inripnJ flepcindcmce is shc^ep. 
The southern, ceases produee elates. Agri(;ulture is 
mueh more developed at the two extremities, however, 
in Morocco and Tunisia, thanks to wid(; expanses of 
t(;rritr>ry when; the f:h'ii)ate is suhje':l to the srjft(;ning 
iiifliiftiiec of the sea. Wc^stern Monjeeo is a w(jnder- 
Inl crjiiiitry where cereals flourish ancl where c:otton 
win probably Ix; raised on a t'lrgc; scale., vSouth(;rn 
Tunisi.'i, produfc:; oIiv(;s, as duriii^( tlie K.(jman 
cjceupnXioti. 

Furthennore, North Afric.'i h<ts ininciral resources. 
Pro:;p(trtin[^ h.'i;; alre.'idy revealed their presence in 
Moroccx). l^^astern Algeria anrl Tunisia produce 
in abundaneci phc^sphates and iron, fr)r whose exploi- 
tation in.'uiy r.'ijlway:; have be(;n built. 11 l.'iek ol 
cc;n,l c;ri]>ples industry, commerce at least flcjurishes 
in both countries. i3elV>re the; war it amount(;cl to 
1,500,000,000 franc;s, more; tli;in a billion for Al}^(;ria 
alone. 

Europcians c;an live in North Africa, and about a 
million have located there, half of whom are French. 
The otliers, vSpaniards and Itali.'uis, mostly poor 
irnniignuits, (|uickly become French citizens. Thus 
a young Latin race; is gr*owinj,^ u]) in the re;j.non, 
French both in l.'inguage .-uid in ;;pirit, whie:h 
may be;(;e>:ne; for I^'ranee; wli;i.t Aii:;tralia and 
Canael.'L .are for ()re;.'it liritain. in adelitie)ii the;re 
are at least 10,000,000 native;s, /i,7oo,ooo of whe>rn 



Till-: COLONIAL i<:i\inKic ^i,^ 

are in Al,i_^iM-i.'i, 1,700,000 in Timisin, .-md llic 
rcni:iiii(KM- in Moi'occo. Soiiicof Ihrsc iivr ;;(M|(Mil.iry, 
olJuM'S iioin.'id. Tlicsc i-;i.c('s :\rc .'i;;;;iniil;il,('(l vvilli 
(lillii-iill y on .'icconni, of Mkmi- i-clij'jon, for l,li(>y .-u-c 
M()h;nnin(>(I;i.ns. NcvcrUiclcss j'l-c.'il. pi-oin-c:;;; i;; hciii)^- 
mruli', .'IS vv.'is shown hy Micir i-cin.Mi-k.'iMc lowiJl.y 
dniMii}^^ llio w.Mi'. To I'ow.'iid I, hem, I<'i-;iiioo h.'is jnsi, 
incrcascul l.hcii- sh.-n-o in (Jic loc.-il .'i<hiiinis(,i\'il ion of 
Al^cM'i.'L In Tnnisi.'i. the n.ilivo j'.ovcrnnuMil con 
linuc'S to Innclion nndci" l^'i'cnch coiilioL Mofocco, 
wht'fo I, ho povvoi- of I, ho snh.'in h:i,s hccii ni.'iiiiLniKMl, 
will soon !)(' p.'i.oifKML ('rcihl, shonid ho jmvcii I.o 
General Ly;i.nl,('y loi- oontiiMiin); I, ho woik (hninr. 
l\]c. (Iro.'il, W:n", in s>pil,o of ( ici-ni.'i.n prop.ij'.-i.nd.'i. 
Only ajiion^ Lho hij^li AlJ.-i,;; inoniiL'iin;; ;nid in I, ho 
far north, which is inulcr Lhc conli'ol of S|).'un, is 
the; country stiN d.'ui.^crons. 

What h'i'.'uice has been .-i.Mc to ;i,ccoinph;;h in 
Nortll Afi'icaL is thus coii:;idci-.'il)lc, .uid the inipoi- 
tanco of this' ])art of the l<'i-ench c<)l()iii;il empire 
seems j.';re,'i,tcr evei-y d;i.y. A re;i,l Afiic-m h'r;i,nce 
has sprung up, vnln.'iMc in the development Loth 
of tlio tr,'i,d(; ;md of the indu;.tiy of the mothci- 
counti'y. Dni-inj.', the w.-n- it lin-nishcd moic tli.'ni 
500,000 sol(iic;rs and workmen. 

Colonies for exploitation. 'IIk; othc^r French col- 
onics situ.'ited in tropie;i,I Latitudes .'u^e not :;uit(Ml to 
Europe.'m coloniz.'i.tion. Ihit they ;;eive ;i,;, outlet;; 
for Frcneli trade, .'uid .'d.o :,upply r;iw mat(!rial of 
various kinds. They include u, nnmhci- of isk'uidsof 



2i6 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

Oceania, which are mostly ports of call, like Tahiti, 
and coaling stations, like Jibuti, which is also the 
outlet of Abyssinia. The large southern island 
of New Caledonia, rich in nickel, and the great 
colonies of French West Africa, French Equatorial 
Africa, Madagascar, and Indo-China complete the 
Hst. 

French West Africa consists of the vast plain of 
western Sudan from Lake Chad to Senegal, which 
has access to the coast by way of several colonies 
of secondary importanpe — Senegal, French Guinea, 
the Ivory Coast, Dahomey. Several zones of vege- 
tation can be distinguished as we pass from south to 
north : equatorial virgin forests, followed by steppes 
growing dryer and dryer toward the north till a 
completely desert type of vegetation is reached. 
The agricultural products are therefore very varied. 
At the south, palm oil, rubber, kola, and copra 
are exploited. Farther north the principal export is 
cattle, but in the valleys where flooding is possible, 
cereals are raised — millet, for instance — and also 
cotton. The northeast, being very much dryer, pro- 
duces peanuts. From each coast region railways 
extend inland, tending to converge in the interior. 
There are already more than 3,000 kilometers 
(1,875 miles) of track laid. 

The black population of the interior received the 
French with joy, for the government is mild and 
has brought peace to countries which were sadly 
in need of it. This region supplied 200,000 good 



THE COLONIAL EMPIRE 217 

soldiers, who played an honorable part on the battle 
fronts of France and Morocco. French West Africa 
will be united to Algeria by rail across the Sahara, 
which is now entirely under control. When this plan 
is carried out, the great port of Senegal, Dakar, will 
be the terminus of a through line from Europe as 
well as the point of departure for South America. 

French Equatorial Africa. Extending from the 
mouth of the Congo River to Lake Chad, French 
Equatorial Africa is less developed because its outlet 
to the sea, among mountains and virgin forests, is 
extremely difficult. It has the same products as 
French West Africa, but cannot export them with 
any ease until its system of railways has been more 
extended. 

Madagascar. The island of Madagascar, which 
is a Httle larger than France, consists mostly of a 
vast plateau, difficult of access, whose soil is not 
very fertile. Nevertheless the forests along the 
coast produce rubber and vanilla, and rice is culti- 
vated in the inland valleys. The crystalline rocks 
contain some gold. Large flocks are raised in the 
interior. A railway built with much difficulty 
connects the capital, Antananarivo, situated on the 
plateau, with the port of Tamatave, providing an 
outlet for trade, which is concerned chiefly with the 
export of agricultural products to British South 
Africa. 

French Indo-China. French Indo-China, which 
is more than half as large again as France, is a 



2i8 GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 

«. 

varied country. It consists mostly of a large plateau 
in the interior which slopes toward Cambodia in the 
south and is framed on the north and east by the 
mountains of Tonking and Annam. Two large plains 
are formed by the deltas of the two great rivers of the 
country, the Mekong and the Songkoi. These two 
plains, Cochin- China and Lower Tonking, are very 
rich and very thickly settled. The chief crop is 
rice. Tonking, which has coal, minerals, and build- 
ing materials, is already venturing in a small way 
to begin manufacturing. The interior is difficult to 
exploit because of the lack of transportation facilities, 
the river being full of rapids. The construction of 
railways is proceeding rather rapidly, and already a 
line from Tonkin has given an outlet to southwestern 
China. The foreign trade of Indo-China already 
exceeds 500,000,000 francs yearly. If the colony 
were properly organized this trade could be consid- 
erably increased, supplying France with tea, rubber, 
silk, and jute. 

The Great War has shown France the importance 
of her colonial .empire and the urgent necessity of 
developing its economxic possibilities. The develop- 
ment of these possibilities is in the front rank of the 
undertakings of the near future. The war has also 
shown the importance of colonial fighting expeditions 
in the making of soldiers, for it is in these battles 
that some of the most illustrious generals of France 
have been trained — Joffre, Gallieni, Gouraud, 
Mangin, and many others. 



A KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 

For French words presenting any difficulty. 

Symbols for French vowels and certain consonants. Note that the same 
sound is often spelled in different ways. 

If the student will bear constantly in mind that the vowels in the examples 
given in this "key " have French and not English values, he will have no difficulty. 
It may not be easy at first to pronounce i like an in sang, or 6 like o in nor, but a 
little practice will make it simple. 

A a as a in fat. Examples, mal, yllpes 

a as a in far. " male, Le Havre 
E e as a in fate. " iee, £pinal 
e as e in there. " feve, Aisne 
e as e in there (prolonged). " ' fete, Seme 
e as M in hum (rounding the " je, Grenoble 
lips and leaving out the r) . 
I C as e in me. " He, /sere, Fpres 
o as in nor. " mart, Orleans 
as in no. " mole, Rhone 
u u has no English equivalent. Place lips in position for pro- 
nouncing 00, and say ee. Examples, due, LMneville 
EU eu as e in fern (rounding " pew, Mewse 
the lips and leaving out 
ther). 
ou ou as 00 in boot. " ]ouv. Tours 
oi oi as wa in warrant. *' \oi, Oise 

Nasal vowels have no equivalent sound in English. Let the 
breath pass through the nose and mouth at the same time, leaving 
off the sound of m or n which follows: 

> a as en in encore Exaniples, paw, Frawce 

(A prolongation of the first syllable of encore produces the 
effect, stopping before sounding the n.) 

219 



2 20 

EN ) 
EM j 
IN ] 
IM j 
ON 1 
OM j 
UN I 
UM I 



A KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 



e as ew m encore. 
I as a« in sang. 
as ow in song, 
u SiS un in s#wg. 



Examples, en, 'Lens 
" pin, Reims 

" hon, Lyon 

" hrun, Verdun 



CH ch as 5/i in shed. . Examples, chktea.u, C/zaumont 

J j as 5 in virion. " jour, /off re 

GN gw (liquid) as gn in mignonette. " campagwe, Dordogwe 

LL 3; (liquid) as li in bril/iant. " Me, Marsei//e 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



Aa, i: (la) 

Aar, U (lar) 

Adour, U (la-dour) 

A gen (a-ji) 

Agenais, U (la-je-ne) 

Ailette, U (le-let) 

Aisne, V (len) 

Alais (a-le) 

AIM (al-bi) 

Alfort (al-for) 

Algerie, U (Algeria) (lal-je- 

n) 
AlUer, U (lal-y-e) 
Alpes, Les (Alps) (le-zal-p) 
Alsace, U (lal-za-s) 
Amiens (a-my-i) 
Angers (a-je) 
Angouleme (a-g/^ou-lem) 
Aniche (a-nish) 
Anjou, U (la-jou) 
Annecy (an-si) 
Annonay (a-non-ne) 
Anzin (a-zi) 

Aquitaine, U (la-kt-te-n) 
Arc de Triomphe, L' (lark- 

de-tri-of) 
Arcoat (ar-kw-at) 
Ardeche, U (lar-desh) 
Ardenne, U (lar-de-n) 
Argonne, U (lar-gho-n) 
Aries (arl) 

Armagnac, U (lar-ma-gn-ak) 
Armentieres (ar-me-ti-er) 
Armor (ar-mor) 



Artois, U (lar-twa) 

Asnieres (a-n-yer) 

Auhenas (o-ben-a) 

Auhervilliers (6-ber-vi-l-ye) 

Auhin (6-bi) 

Auhrac (6-b-rak) 

Auge (6-j) 

Auteuil (6-teu-i) 

Auver gnats, Les (le-s6-ver- 

gn-a) 
Auvergne, U (16-ver-gn) 
Aveyron, L' (la-ve-ro) 
Avignon (a-vi-gn-o) 
Avocourt (a-v6-cour) 
Ay (a-i) 

Bale (Basle) (bal) 
Bantheville (ba-t-vil) 
Bareges (ba-r-ej) 
Bar-le-Duc (bar-le-duk) 
Bas-Breton, Le (le-ba-bre- 

to) 
Bas-Languedoc, Le (le-ba- 

lan-gh-dok) 
Basque (bask) 
Bayonne (ba-l-yo-n) 
Beaujolais, Le (le-bo-jo-le) 
Beauce, La (la-bos) 
Beaune (b6n) 
Belfort (bel-for) 
Berry, Le (le-be-ri) 
Besangon (be-za-so) 
Bethune (be-tun) 
beurreries (be-re-ri) 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



Biarritz (bi-ar-rit-z) 
Bocage Normand, Le (le- 

bok-aj-nor-ma) 
Bordeaux (bor-do) 
Bordelais, Le (le-bor-de-le) 
Bossons (bos-so) 
Boulogne (bou-16-gn) 
Boulonnais, Le (le-bou-lon- 

ne) 
Bourbonnais, Le (le-bour- 

bon-ne) 
Bourges (bou-r-j) 
B our get (bour-je) 
Brandes (bra-d) 
Bray (bre) 
Bretagne, La (Brittany) (la- 

bre-ta-gn) 
Briangon (bri-an-so) 
Briangonnais , Le (le-bri-a- 

s6n-ne) 
Brie, La (la-bri) 
Briey (bri-e) 
Brioude (brl-ou-d) 
Brive (br-i-v) 
Bruay (bru-e) 
Bourgogne, La (Burgundy) 

(la-bour-gho-gn) 

Caen (ka) 
Calais (ka-le) 

Camargue, La (la-ka-mar-g) 
Camhrai (ka-b-re) 
Camembert (ka-me-ber) 
Canal du Centre, Le (le-ka- 

nal-du-se-tr) 
Canal d.e I'Est, Le (le-ka- 

nal-de-lest) 
Canal du Nord, Le (le-ka- 

nal-du-nor) 
Cannes (ka-n) 



Cantal, Le (le-ca-tal) 
Carcassonne (kar-kas-s6-n) 
Carmaux (car-mo) 
Catalan (ca-ta-la) 
Causses, Les (le-c6-s) 
Cauterets (ko-te-re) 
Cette (ce-t) 

Cevennes, Les (le-se-ven) 
Chalon (sha-lo) 
Chalons (sha-lo) 
Chambertin (sha-ber-ti) 
Champagne, La (la-sha-pa- 

gn) 
Charente, La (la-shar-e-t) 
Charlemagne (shar-le-ma-gn) 
Charolais, Le (le-sha-ro-le) 
Chateau (sha-to) 
Chdteaulin (sha-to-l-i) 
Chdteauroux (s]ia-t6-rou) 
Chateau-Thierry (sh^-t6-ti- 

er-i) 
Chaumont (sho-mo) 
Chaussee d'Antin, La (la- 

sho-se-da-ti) 
Chemin-des-Dames, Le (le- 

she-mi-de-dam) 
Cheppy (sliep-pi) 
Cher, Le (le-sher) 
Cherbourg (sher-bour) 
Clermont-Ferrand (cler-mo- 

fer-ra) 
Cognac (c6-gn-ak) 
Colmar (kol-mar) 
Commercy (com-mer-ci) 
Comtat, Le (le-co-ta) 
Consenvoye (co-se-vwa) 
Corons (c6r-o) 
Corse, La (Corsica) (la-kor-s) 
Cote d'Azur, La (Riviera) 

(la-k6t-da-zur , ri-vi-ye-ra) 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



223 



Cote de Chalon, La (la-kot- 

de-sha-lo) 
Cote de Macon, La (la-kot- 

de-ma-ko) 
Cotes de Meuse, Les (le-kot- 

de-meu-z) 
Cotes de Moselle, Les (le- 

kot-de-mo-sel) 
Cote d' Or, La (la-kot-dor) 
Cote de VOuest, La (la-kot- 

de-lou-est) 
Cotentin, Le (le-c6-te-ti) 
Courbevoie (cou-r-be-vwa) 
Courrieres (kou-ri-yer) 
Crau, La (la-kro) 

Decazeville (de-caz-vi-1) 

Denain (de-ni) 

Deule, La (la-deu-1) 

Dieppe (di-ep) 

Dijon (di-jo) 

Dinard (di-n-ar) 

Domhes (do-b) 

Dordogne, La (la-dor-do-gn) 

Douai (dou-e) 

Douaumont (dou-6-mo) 

Double, Le (le-dou-bl) 

Dun (du) 

Dunkerque (Dunkirk) du- 

ker-k) 
Durance, La (la-du-ra-s) 

Eaux-Bonnes (6-b6-n) 
Ecole des Beaux- Arts, L' 

(le-kol-de-bo-zar) 
Epernay (e-per-ne) 
Epinal (e-pi-nal) 
Escarpelle, L' (les-kar-pel) 
Escaut, L' (le-s-ko) 
Esterel, U (les-te-rel) 
Etretat (^-tre-ta) 



Fere-en-Tardenois (fer-e-tar- 

den-wa) 
Flandre, La (Flanders) (la- 

fia-dr) 
Foix (fwa) 
fmitieres (fru-i-tie-r) 

Gallieni (gha-l-^^e-ni) 
Care de VEst (gha-r-de-lest) 
Care de Lyon (gha-r-de-li-o) 
Care Mont-Parnasse (gha-r- 

mo-par-nas) 
Care du Nord (gha-r-du-nor) 
Care d'Orleans (gha-r-dor- 

le-a) 
Care St. Lazare (gha-r-si-la- 

zar) 
Garonne, La (la-gha-ro-n) 
garrigue (ghar-ri-g) 
Gascogne, La (Gascony) 

(la-ghas-ko-gn) 
gdtines (gh^-tin) 
Gavarnie (gha-var-ni) 
Geneve (Geneva) (j-ne-v) 
Gironde, L& (la-ji-ro-d) 
Civet (ji-ve) 

Gothard, Le (le-gho-tar) 
Gouraud (ghou-r-6) 
Ghrande-Montagne, La (la- 

gra-d-mo-ta-gn) 
grands vins (gra-vi) 
Graves (gra-v) 
Grenoble (gre-nob-1) 
Gruyere (gru-ye-r) 
Guadeloupe, La (la-gwa-de- 

loup) 
Guerigny (ghe-ri-gn-i) 
Guinee, La (Guinea) (la- 

ghi-ne) 

Haute-Saone, La (la-6t-s6-n) 



224 



A' PRONOUNCING INDEX 



Haut-Jura, Le (le-6-ju-ra) 
Haut-Languedoc, Le (le-6- 

la-gh-dok) 
Hauts-de-Meuse, Les (le-6- 

de-meu-z) 
Herault, Le (le-e-ro) 
Humide (u-mid) 

Ile-de-France, U (li-l-de- 

fra-s) 
lie de la Cite, U (li-1-de-la- 

ct-te 
Indo-Chine, L'(Indo-China) 

li-do-shi-n) 
Indre, L' (li-dr) 
Invalides, Les (le-zi-va-lid) 
I sere, U (li-ser) 
Isigny (i-si-gn-i) 
Issoire (i-s-swa-r) 
Ivry (i-v-ri) 

Joeuf {]eui) 
Joffre (jofr) ^ 
Jura, Le (le-ju-ra) 

La Bourboule (la - bou - r - 

bou-1) 
Landes, Les (le-la-d) 
Languedoc, Le (le-la-gh-dok) 
La Rochelle (la-ro-she-l) 
Lauraguais, Le (le-16-ra- 

ghe) 
Laval (la-val) 
Le Creusot (le-cre-z6) 
Le Havre (le-av-r) 
Le Mans (le-ma) 
Lens (1-e-s) 
Levallois (le-va-1-wa) 
Lievin (li-e-vi) 
Lille (li-1) 
Limagne, La (la-li-ma-gn) 



Limoges (ll-mSj) 
limon (li-mo) 

Limousin, Le (le-li-mou-si) 
Loing, Le (le-lwi) 
Loir, Le (le-lwa-r) 
Loire, La (la-lwa-r) 
Lorient (16r-y-e) 
Lorraine, La (la-16-re-n) 
Lot, Le (le-16) 
Lourdes (lou-r-d) 
Luchon (lu-sho) 
Luneville (lu-ne-vil) 
Luxembourg, Le (Luxem- 
burg) (le-luk-se-bour) 
Lyautey (li-6-te) 
Lyon (Lyons) (li-o) 
Lyonnais, Le (le-li-on-ne) 
Lys, La (la-lis) 

Madagascar, (ma-da-ghas- 

kar) 
Maine, Le (le-men) 
Man gin (ma-ji) 
maquis (ma-ki) 
Marennes (ma-r-en) 
Maries (mar-1) 
Marne, La (la-marn) 
Maroc, le (Morocco) (le- 

ma-rok) 
Marseille (Marseilles) (mar- 

se-ye) 
Martinique, La (la-mar-ti- 

nlk) 
massif (ma-sif) 
Massif Armoricain, Le (le- 

ma-sif - ar-mo-ri-ki) 
Massif Central, Le (le-ma- 

sif-sa-tral) 
Massif Rhenan, Le (le-ma- 

sif-re-na) 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



225 



Maubeuge (mo-beu-j) 
Maures, Les (le-mo-r) 
Maurienne, La (la-mo-ri-en) 
Mazamet (ma-za-me) 
Mediterranee, La (Mediter- 
ranean) (la-me-di-te-ra- 

ne) 
Medoc (me-dok) 
Menton (Mentone) (me-to) 
Mercantour, Le (le-mer-ca- 

tour) 
Mer de Glace, La (la-mer- 

de-gla-s) 
Metz (pronounced mes in 

French, metz in English) 
Meuse, La (la-meu-z) 
Mezieres (me-zi-y er) 
Millau (mil-6) , 

Miquelon, Le (le-mi-ke-lo) 
Mistral, Le (le-mi-s-tral) 
Monchy-le-Preux (mo-shi-le- 

preu) 
Montague, La (la-mo-ta-gn) 
Mont-Blanc, Le (le-mo-bl-a) 
Montceau-les-Mines (mo-s6- 

le-mi-n) 
Mont Cents, Le (le-mo-ceni) 
Montfaucon (mo-fo-ko) 
Montlugon (mo-lu-so) 
Montmartre (mo-mar-tr) 
Monipellier (mo-pe-lye) 
Monts de Champagne, Les 

(le-mo-de-sha-pa-gn) 
Monts Dore, Les (le-mo-dor) 
Monts, de Flandre, Les (le- 

mo-de-fia-dr) 
Monts du Forez, Les (le- 

mo-du-for-e-s) 
Monts du Livradois, Les 
(le-mo-du-li-v-ra-dwa) 



Monts de Margeride, Les 

(le-mo-de-mar- j e-rid) 
Morbihan, Le (le-mor-bi-a) 
Morlaix (mor-l-e) 
Morvan, Le (le-mor-va) 
Moselle, La (la-mo-ze-l) 
Mulhouse (Miilhausen) 
(mul-ou-z) 

Nancy (na-ci) 

Nantes (na-t) 

Narbonne (nar-bon) 

Navarre, La (la-na-var) 

Neuilly (neu-yi) 

Nice (nice) 

Nieuport (ni-e-p6r) 

Ntmes (ni-m) 

Noeux (neu) 

Normandie, La (Normandy) 

(la-nor-ma-di) 
Notre-Dame (not-re-dam) 
Notre-Dame de Lorette (not- 

re-dam-de-16-ret) 
Noyon (nwa-3^0) 
Nuits (nu-i) 

Oise, U (Iwa-z) 
Oleron (6-1-e-ro) 
Opera, L' (16-pe-ra) 
Orange (6-ra-j) 
Orleans (6r-le-a) 
Ormont (6r-mo) 
Ourcq, U (lou-rk) 
Oyonnax (o-yon-na) 

Paimpol (pi-pol) 

Palus (pa-lus) 

Pantheon (pa-te-o) 

Pantin (pa-ti) 

par excellence ipsiv-ek-se-lsi-s) 



15 



226 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



Pas-de-Calais, Le (le-pa- 

de-ka-le) 
Pan (p6) 

Pelvoux, Le (le-pel-vou) 
Percke, Le (le-per-sh) 
Perigord, Le (le-pe-ri-ghor) 
Peronne (pe-ron) 
Perpignan (per-pi-gn-a) 
Perthus (per-tus) 
Petit Saint -Bernard, Le 

(Little St. Bernard) (le- 

pe-ti-si-ber-nar) 
^Picardie, La (Picardy) (la- 

pi-car-di) 
Poitiers (pwa-tye) 
Poitou, Le (le-pwa-tou) 
Pont-a-Mousson (po-ta- 

mou-so) 
pouilleuse (pou-i-yeu-z) 
Provence, La (la-pro-ve-s) 
Puteaux (pu-to) 
Puy-de-Dome, Le (le-pu-i- 

de-dom) 
Puymorens (pu-i-mo-re) 
Puys, Les (le-pu-i) 
Pyrenees, Les (Pyrenees) 

(le-pi-re-ne) 

Quercy (ker-si) 
Queyras, Le (le-ke-ra-s) 

Re (re) 

Reims (Rheims) (ri-s) 

Renaissance, La (la-^e-ne- 

sa-s) 
Rennes (re-n) 
Rkin, Le (Rhine) (le-ri) 
Rhone, Le (le-ro-n) 
Roanne (ro-a-n) 
Rochefort (ro-sh-for) 
Romagne (ro-ma-gn) 



Romorantin (ro-mor-a-ti) 
Roncevaux (ro-s-v6) 
Ronchamp (ro-sha) 
Roquefort (rok-for) 
Roubaix (rou-b^) 
Rouen (rou-e) 

Roussillon, Le (le-rou-si-yo) 
Royat (r-wa-ya) 
Rue de Rivoli, La (la-ru-de- 
ri-v6-li) 

Saint-Brieuc (si-bri-eu) 
Saint-Claude (si-cl6-d) 
Saint-Denis (si-de-ni) 
Saint-Die (si-di-e) 
Saint-Dizier (si-di-zi-e) 
Saint-Etienne (si-te-ti-en) 
Sainte-Genevieve (si-t-jen-vi- 

ev) 
Saint-Germain-des-Pres (sl- 

jer-mi-de-pre) 
Saint-Junien (si-ju-ni-l) 
Saint-Malo (si-ma-16) 
Saint-Maur (si-mor) 
Saint-Mihiel (sl-mi-yel) 
Saint-Nazaire (si-na-zer) 
Saint-Omer (si-t-6-mer) 
Saint-Ouen (si-t-ou-i) 
Saint-Quentin (si-ke-ti) 
Saint-Pierre (si-pi-er) 
Salers (sa-l-er) 
Sambre, La (la-sa-br) 
Santerre (sa-t-er) 
Saone, La (la-s6-n) 
Sarralbe (Saaralben) (vSar- 

alb) 
Sarrebruck (Saarebriicken) 

(sar-bnik) 
Sarreguemines (Saarge- 

miind) (sar-ghe-min) 



A PRONOUNCING INDEX 



227 



Sarthe, La (la-sar-t) 
Sauternes (s6-te-rn) 
Saverne (sa-ver-n) 
Scarpe, La (la-sk-arp) 
Sedan (se-da) 
Se galas, Le (le-se-gha-la) 
Seine, La (la-se-n) 
Senegal, Le (le-se-ne-ghal) 
Sevres (sev-r) 
Stmplon, Le (le-si-plo) 
Soissonnais, Le (le-swa- 

s6n-ne) 
Soissons (swa-so) 
Sologne, La (la-s6-lo-gn) 
Sonime, La (la-som) 
Somport (so-p6r) 
Strasbourg (Strasburg) 

(stras-bour) 
sucriers (su-kri-ye) 

Tarare (ta-r-ar) 

Tarbes (tar-b) 

Tarentaise, La (la-ta-r-e- 

te-s) 
Thiaucourt (ti-6-cour) 
Thionville (tt-o-vil) 
Toul (tou-1) 
Toulon (tou-lo) 
Toulouse (tou-lou-s) 
Touraine, La (la-tou-r-en) 
Tourcoing (tour-kwl) 



Tournon (tou-r-no) 
Tours (tou-r) 
Trouville (trou-vil) 
Troyes (tr-wa) 
Tulle (tu-1) 

Tunisie, La (Tunisia) (la- 
tu-ni-zi) 

Valence (va-l-e-s) 
Valenciennes (va-la-si-^n) 
Vaux (v6) 
Velay (ve-le) 
Vendee (ve-de) 
Verdun (ver-du) 
Versailles (ver-sa-y) 
Vesle, La (la-ve-1) 
Vichy {Yi-shi) 
Vienne (vi-yen) 
Vienne, La (la- vi-yen) 
Vierzon (vi-er-zo) 
Villers-CoUerets (vi-ler-c6t- 

er-e) 
Vimy (vi-mi) 
Vincennes (vi-s^-n) 
Vivarais, Le (le-vi-va-r^) 
Vosges, Les (le-v6-j) 

Woevre, La (la-vwa-vr) 

Yonne, L' (li-yon) 
Ypres (i-pr) 
Yser, U (It-z^r) 



THE INDEX 



Aa, 207 

Aar, 44 

Abyssinia, 216 

Adour, 174 

Agenais, 82 

Agriculture, 67, 72, 76, 77, 78, 
88, 92, loi, 108, 115, 116, 122 

Ailette, 119 

Aisne, 119, 121, 209 

Alais, 59, 161, 174 

Albi, 78 _ 

Aleppo pines, 25 

Alfalfa, no 

Alfort, 153 

Algeria, 31, 42, 73, 172, 198, 199, 
212, 213, 214, 215, 217 

Algerian wines, 104 

AUier, 63, 64, 165 

Allies, 128, 163 

Alluvial deposits, 50, 143 

Alluvial lands, 39 

Alluvial material, 82, 99, 151 

Alluvial plains, 33 

Alluvial terraces, 201 

Almond, 27, 42, 43, 53 

Alpine folding, 1 59 

Alpine thrust, 95, 123 

Alps, 17, 18, 20, 24, 27, 34, 37- 
43, 48, 55, 56, 68, 70, 156, 159, 
160, 165, 166-168, 174, 175, 
178, 184, 189, 194, 198 

Alsace, 21, 28, 49, 139, 209 

Alsace-Lorraine, 136, 140, 141- 
147, 156 

Aluminum, 34, 169, 174 

America, 102, 179, 188 

American cities, 155 

American line, 206 

American oil, 104 

Americans, 156 

American troops, 94 

Amiens, 115, 116 

Angers, 100, loi, 204, 210 



Anglo-Flemish Basin, 23 

Angoul^me, 76 

Aniche, 114, 162 

Anjou, 190 

Annam, 218 

Annecy, Lake of, 39 

Annonay, 59 

Antananarivo, 217 

Antwerp, t8i 

Anzin, 114, 162 

Appalachians, 45 

Aquitaine. See Basin of Aqui- 

taine. 
Aquitainian climate, 27 
Aragon, 73 

Arc de Triomphe, 155 
Arcoat, 89-90 
Ardeche, 58 
Ardenne, 21, 95, 159, 162, 163, 

173 
Argentina, 176, 188 
Argonne, 125, 126, 127, 128 
Aries, 54 
Armagnac, 78, 79 
Armentieres, no, in, 180 
Armor, 86-89 
Artesian wells, in 
Artois, 107, 111-114, 162, 180, 

195 
Asia, 18 
Asnieres, 153 
Atlantic climate, 25-28 
Atlantic Ocean, 22, 24, 25, 37, 

49, 56, 62, 65, 70, 75, 78, St, 

138, 165 
Atlas Mountains, 215 
Attica, 73 
Attila, 126 
Aubenas, 59 
"Aubervilliers, 153 
Aubin, 161 
Aubrac, 62 
Auge, 102, 196 



229 



230 



THE INDEX 



Australia, 176, 214 
Austria, 37 
Auteuil, 153 
Automobile, 49 
Auvergnats, 62 
Auvergne, 156 
Aveyron, 77 
Avignon, 54 
Avocourt, 131 
Ay, 124 

Bale, 124, 144, 146 

Bantheville, 134 

Barcelona, 73 

Bareges, 72 

Bar-le-Duc, 131 

Barley, no 

Bas-Breton, 86 

Basin of Aquitaine, 22, 27, 56, 

67, 74-83, 97 . „ . „ . 
Basin of Paris. See Pans Bastn. 
Bas-Languedoc, 78, 201 
Basques, 71 
Bastia, 36 
Batignolles, 152 
Battlefields, 116 
Bauxite, 34, 169 
Bayonne, 79 
Beauce, 98-99, 122, 148, 150, 

177, 189, 190 
Beaujolais, 60 
Beaune, 204 
Beets, 102, 119 
Belfort, 49, 144 
Belgian coal, 163 
Belgians, 109, no, 134, 156, 190 
Belgium, 113, 122, 148, 162, 207 
Berlin, 150 
Berry, 97, 177, 194; canals of, 

210 
Besangon, 45 
Bethune, 114, 162 
Biarritz, 79 
Bicycle, 49 
Black Forest, 21, 143 
Bocage Normand, 91 
Bohemia, 169 
Bonn, 52 



Bordeaux, 64, 75, 76, 83, 203- 

204 
Bordelais, 82-83 
Bossons, 40 
Boulogne, 104, 153 
Boulonnais, 102, 103, 105, iii, 

195 
Bourbonnais, 195 
Boirrges, 97 
Boirrget, Lake of, 39 
Brandes, 98 
Bray, 102, 196 
Bresse, 49-50, 51, 196 
Brest, 25, 26, 86, 87, 89 
Breton climate, 26 
Bretons, 156, 190 
Breweries, in, 116, 182, 196 
Briangon, 43 
Briangonnais, 42 
Brie, 121-122, 150, 189, 190, 191 
Briey, 134 
Brighton, 104 
Brioude, 63 

British South Africa, 217 
Brittany, 21, 26, 84-90, 92, 93, 

94, 96, 169, 196 
Brittany canals, 210 
Brive, 77 
Bruay, 162 
Buckwheat, 89 
Burgundy, 23, 49, 51, 145, 148, 

171, 204 
Burgundy, Dukes of, 52 
Burgundy Canal, 209 
Butter, 45, 76, 92, 93, 102, no 

Caen, 91, 105, 172 

Caesar, 43, 97 

Calais, 109, no, 124 

California, 25, 82 

Camargue, 33 

Cambodia, 218 

Cambrai, 116 

Camembert cheese, 102, 196 

Canada, 212, 214 

Canal de I'Est, 209 

Canal des Deux-Mers, 78, 210 

Canal du Centre, 209 



THE INDEX 



231 



Canal du Nord, 209 

Cannes, 35 

Canning factories, 88 

Cantal, 62 

Carboniferous Period, 159 

Carcassonne, 78 

Carmaux, 67, 161 

Carolingians, 152 

Catalan, 73 

Cattle, 37, 39, 41, 47, 50, 51, 62, 

65, 71, 1^, 78, 89, 91, 92, 94, 

102, no, 116, 192-197 
Causses, 66 
Cauterets, 72 
Celluloid, 46 
Celtic legends, 89 
Celtic race, 105 
Celts, 86 
Cement, 40 
Cenis, 47 , 
Cereals, 35, 36, 50, 79, 92, 97, 

144, 145, 213, 214, 216 
Cette, 33 

Cevennes, 59, 64, 175 
Chalons, 126 
Chambertin, 204 
Champagne, 123-128, 129, 149, 

175, 178, 194, 205 
Champagne humide, 126-128 
Champagne pouilleuse, 125-126, 

127 
Channel, The, 22, 91, loi, 103, 

115, 149 
Charente, 76, 92, 190, 196 
Charlemagne, 71 
Charles V, 152 
Charles the Bald, 152 
Charolais, 60, 195 
Chateaulin, 90 
Chateauroux, 97, 177 
Chateau-Thierry, 121 
Chaumont, 131 
Chaussee d'Antin, 152 
Cheese, 45, 67, 102, no, 196 
Chemical factories, in, 114 
Chemin-des-Dames, 120, 121 
Cheppy, 131 
Cher, 99, 165 



Cherbourg, 84, 91 

Cherries, 52 

Chestnut, 27, 36, 65, 98 

Chicory, 189 

Cider, 89 

Clermont-Ferrand, 64 

Clocks, 46 

Clothing manufacture, in 

Coal, 49, 59, 60, 65, 67, 79, 83, 

104, III, 113-114, 134, 142, 

159-163, 164, 171, 173, 174, 

181, 209, 218 
Cochin-China, 212, 218 
Cognac, 76 
Coke, 114 
Colmar, 145 
Commercy, 131 
Comtat, 53 
Congo, 212, 217 
Consenvoye, 131 
Copra, 216 
Cork, 80 

Com, 27, 39, 50, 71, 78 
Corons, 113 
Corsica, 35-36 
Cote, 123, 133 
Cote d'Azur, 35 
Cote de Chalon, 51 
Cote de I'Ouest, 134 
C6te de Macon, 51 
Cote d'Or, 51, 204 
Cotentin, 91 

Cotes de Meuse, 132, 133, 205 
Cotes de Moselle, 133, 134, 171, 

205 
Cotton, 49, 105, no, 116, 137, 

146, 176, 178, 179, 180, 182, 

183, 214, 216 
Cotton mills, 91 
Courbevoie, 153 
Courrieres, 162 
Crau, 34 
Cutlery, 64 
Cypress, 25 

Dahomey, 216 
Dakar, 217 
Dakota, 42 



232 



THE INDEX 



Dates, 214 

Decazeville, 67, 161, 174 

Deccan, 212 

Denain, 114, 173 

Deule, 207 

Dieppe, 104, 179 

Dijon, 52 

Dinard, 88 

Distilleries, 122 

Dombes, 50-51, ^^, 98 

Dordogne, 77, 165, 203 

Douai, 113, 114, 162, 209 

Douaumont, 129 

Double, 'J'] 

Dry-farming, 214 

Dun, 131 

Dunkerque, no, 172, 180, 181 

Durance, 43, 68 

Eaux-Bonnes, 72 
Ecole des Beaux- Arts, 155, 156 
Electro-chemical products, 40 
Electro-metallurgy, 40, 167, 174 
England, 23, 53, 86, 87, 103, 104, 

109, no, 179 
English, 156 
English coal, 163 
Epernay, 124 
Epinal, 138 
Escarpelle, 162 
Esterel, 34, 35 
Etretat, 103 

Far East, 35 ^ 

Fere-en-Tardenois, 121 

Fig, 149 

Fishponds, 50 

Flanders, 26, 107-111, 114, i8o, 

189, 195, 196 
Flax, 92, 102, 105, no, 175, 176, 

180, 189 
Flemings, 156 
Flour mills, 122 
Foix, 72 
Folkstone, 104 
Forez, 63 

French Equatorial Africa, 217 
French Guinea, 216 



French Indo-China, 217-218 
French West Africa, 216-217 
Fruitieres, 45 

Gallieni, 218 
Gare de I'Est, 156 
Gare de Lyon, 156 
Gare d'Orleans, 156 
Gare du Nord, 156 
Gare Mont-Parnasse, 156 
Gare Saint-Lazare, 156 . 
Garonne, 22, 75, 80-81, 82, 190, 

203, 207, 210 
Garrigue, 25 
Gascons, 156 
Gascony, 79 
Gdtines, 98 
Gaul, 53, 55, 97 
Gavarnie, 71 
Geneva, 26, 211 
Geneva, Lake of, 37 
Germanic invasions, 133 
German prisoners, 167 
German propaganda, 215 
Germans, 107, 109, in, 114, 

125, 127, 162, 163, 172 
Germany, 53, 141, 169, 206 
Gironde, 83, 174 
Givet, 173 
Glaciers, 37, 40, 46, 48, 50, 54, 

70, 139 
Glass works, 67, 114, 137, 142, 

182, 183, 184, 186 
Gloves, 40 
Gold, 217 

Golden Belt, 88, 90 
Gothard, 47 
Gouraud, 218 
Grain, 63, ']T, 81 
Grand Canyon, 66 
Grande-Montagne, 131 
Grapes, 78. See Vine, Vineyards. 
Graves, 83 

Great Britain, 106, 189, 212, 214 
Great Lakes, 212 
Great War, 107, 112, 114, 120, 

127, 133, 190, 212, 215, 218 
Greece, 25, 31 



THE INDEX 



233 



Grenoble, 40, 44, 166, 174 
Gruyere clieese, 45 
Guadeloupe, 213 
Guerigny, 174 
Guiana, 212, 213 
Gypsum, 149 

Hardware, 49 
Haute-Sa6ne, 49 
Haut-Languedoc, 78, 81 
Hauts-de-Meuse, 129, 131 
Hemp, 92, 102, 175, 176, 189 
Herault, 202 
"Hill 304," 134 
Hops, no, 142 
Horses, 79, 192, 194, 195 
Hot springs, 62, 72 
Houtland, 109 
Huns, 126 

Hydro-electric plants, 40, 41, 47, 
54» 59, 67, 72, 73 

Iceland, 87 

Idaho, 20 

Ile-de-France, 2"], 123, 124, 129, 

149 
He de la Cite, 151 
111, 144, 145, 146 
India, 176, 212 
Indian Ocean, 212, 213 
Indo-China, 212, 216 
Indre, 99 
Invalides, 155 
Iron, 97, 134, 169, 170, 171, 174, 

182, 183, 210 
Iron ore, 105 
Iron works, 114 
Irrigation, 34, 53, 54, 79, 213 
Isere, 54 
Isigny, 196 
Issoire, 63 

Italians, 134, 156, 214 
Italian silk, 175 
Italy, 25, 31, 39, 41, 43, 44, 47, 

176, 213 
Ivory Coast, 216 
Ivry, 153 



Jibuti, 216 
Joeuf, 172 
Joffre, 218 
Jura, 18-19, 44-47, 48, 49, 55, 

56, 164, 171, 194 
Jute, 176, 218 

Kola, 216 

La Bourboule, 62 

Lafayette, 63 

Lake Chad, 216, 217 

Lakes, 39 

Lake Superior, 134 

Landes, 78, 79-80, 83, 117 

Languedoc, 31, 58, 64, 67 

La Rochelle, 76, 84, 210 

Latin Quarter, 156 

Lauraguais, 23, 24, 56, 78, 82 

Lava flows, 20 

Laval, 92 

Leather, 59, 67 

Le Creusot, 60, 161, 174, 184, 
209 

Le Havre, 104 

Le Mans, 100 

Lemon trees, 35 

Lens, 113, 114, 162 

Les Puys, 62 

Levallois, 153 

Lievin, 162 

Lille, 26, no, in, 114, 173, 180 

Limagne, 63 

Lime, 40 

Limoges, 65, 66 

Limousin, 65-66, 156, 161 

Linen, no, 116, 180, 182 

Little Saint- Bernard, 41 

Live oak, 25 

Loess, 145 

Loing, 209 

Loir, 99 

Loire, 52, 59, 60, 63, 64, 93-94, 
99, 100, loi, 148, 165, 169, 
174, 190, 204, 207, 210 

Loire canal, 209 

Lombardy, 28 

London, 150 



234 



THE INDEX 



Lorient, ^y 

Lorraine, 21, 26, 49, 123, 129- 
137, 138, 140, 148, 163, 171- 

172, 173, 179-180, 183, 184, 
209, 210 

Lorraine climate, 28 

Los Angeles, 35 

Lot, 77, 165 

Louis XIV, 153 

Louisiana, 34, 212 

Lourd.es, 72 

Louvre, 155 

Luchon, 72 

Luneville, 137 

Luxembourg, 134, 155 

Lyautey, 215 

Lyon, 41 , 46, 48, 5 1 , 52, 54, 55, 56, 
58, 59, 64, 161, 162, 167, 178, 
180, 183-184, 195, 207, 209 

Lyonnais, 60 

Lys, no, 180, 207 

Machine shops, 49, in 

Madagascar, 212, 217 

Maine, 176, 178, 196 

Maine (Lower), 91-92 

Maine (U.S.), 86 

Mainz, 52 

Manganese, 174 

Mangin, 218 

Maquis, 25, 71 

Marbles, 72 

Marennes, 76 

Maries, 162 

Marne, 52, 121, 148, 149, 153, 

173, 209 
Marne-Rhine Canal, 143, 209 
Marne-Saone Canal, 209 
Marseille, 24, 34, 167 
Martinique, 213 

Massif Armoricain, 21, 26, 74, 
84-94, 95, 98, 100, loi, 102, 
105, 159, 169, 172, 189, 194 

Massif Central, 20, 24, 27, 31, 
44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56- 
67, 74, 81, 95, 98, 100, 159, 
161, 164, 165, 166, 169, 173, 
178, 184, 189, 194, 202, 206 



Massif Rhenan, 159 

Maubeuge, 173 

Maures, 34 

Maurienne, 68 

Mazamet, 67 

Mediterranean, 18, 22, 24, 27, 

43, 55, 56, 58, 7^, 78, 88, 104, 

149, 211 
Mediterranean climate, 24-25, 

37, 70 
Mediterranean region, 31-36, 

169, 175, 189, 194, 198, 201- 

202, 204 
Medoc, 83, 203 
Mekong, 218 
Melons, 53 
Menton, 35 
Mercantour, 42 
Mer de Glace, 40 
Metal industries, 60 
Metallurgy, 93, 142, 146, 154, 

169-174, 182, 183, 184, 185 
Metal works, 67, 91 
Metz, 132, 141 

Meuse, 128, 131, 173, 207, 209 
Mexico, 81 

Mezieres, 173, 198, 201 
Middle Ages, 31, 33, 50, no, 

151, 155 
Millau, 67 
Mining, 92 
Miquelon, 212, 213 
Mirror factories, 114 
Mississippi, 58 
Mistral, 25, 53 
Mohammedans, 215 
Monaco, 35 
Monchy-le-Preux, 113 
Montague, 45 
Mont Blanc, 40 
Montceau-les-Mines, 60, 161 
Mont Cenis, 41 
Montfaucon, 134 
Montlugon, 65, 161, 174, 210 
Montmartre, 153 
, 'ontpellier, 33 

Monts de Champagne, 123, 125 
Monts de Flandre, 108 



THE INDEX 



235 



Monts de Margeride, 61 
Monts-Dore, 62 
Monts du Forez, 61 
Monts du Livradois, 61 
Moraines, 50 
Morbihan, 86, 198, 201 
Morez, 46 
Morlaix, 87 

Morocco, 212, 214, 215, 217 
Morvan, 58, 60, 161, 196 
Moselle, 52, 141, 179, 209 
Mulberry, 28, 39, 53, 59 
Mulhouse, 140, 145, 146, 179 
Munition works, 65 

Nancy, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136 

Nantes, 89, 93, 100, loi, 210 

Napoleon, 103 

Napoleon III, 98 

Narbonne, 33 

Navarre, 71 

Neuilly, 153 

New Caledonia, 216 

Newfoundland, 87, 213 

Newhaven, 104 

New Jersey, 91 

New Mexico, 42 

Nice, 18, 25, 26, 35, 37, 42, 167 

Nickel, 216 

Nieuport, 109 

Nimes, 33 

Noeux, 162 

Nord, 95, 102, 134, 161, 162, 

172-173, 190, 191, 195, 196, 

210 
Normans, 106, 156 
Normandy, 26, 103, 104, 172, 

179, 196 
Normandy (Lower), 91 
North Africa, 35, 213-215 
North America, 104 
North Carolina, 33 
Northmen, 105 
North Sea, 107, 108, 207 
Norway, 168 
Notre-Dame, 155 
Notre-Dame de Lorette, 112 
Noyon, 118, 209 



Nuits, 204 
Nurseries, 99 

Oats, 65 

Oil refineries, 114 

Oil works, ill 

Oise, 119, 148, 207, 208, 209 

Oleron, 76 

Olives, 25, 34, 36, 42, 43, 53, 214 

Opera, 155 

Optical work, 46 

Orange, 54 

Orange trees, 35, 36 

Oregon, 42 

Orient, 35 » 53 » 176 

Orleans, 98, 100, 151, 177, 204, 

210 
Ormont, 131 
Orne, 103 
Ourcq, 121 
Oyonnax, 46 
Oyster beds, 76 

Paimpol, 87 

Palm oil, 216 

Palus, 83 

Pantheon, 155 

Pantin, 153 

Paper industry, 59, 76, 140, 167, 

183 

Pans, 26, 27, 34, 41, 53, 55, 76, 
88, 95, 98, 100, 104, 105, 107, 
III, 122, 123, 146, 148-156, 
184-186, 195, 196, 198, 207, 
208, 209, 210 

Paris Basin, 22, 51, 64, 74, 84, 
90, 95-i37» 138, 194, 210 

Parisian climate, 26 

Pas-de-Calais, 162, 182, 183, 209 

Pau, 73, 79 

Peaches, 52 

Peanuts, 216 

Pelvoux, 37, 40 

Pennsylvania, 141 

Perche, 73, 102, 195 

Percheron horses, 102 

Perfumes, 35 

Perigord, 76 



236 



THE INDEX 



Peronne, 115, 118, 209 

Perpignan, 33 

Perthus, 73 

Petroleum, 146 

Phylloxera, 77, 199 

Picardy, 103, 114-117, 119, 125, 

148, 156, 181, 189, 190, 191, 

196 
Pig-iron, 79 
Pipes, 46 
Pittsburgh, 60 
Plains of Languedoc, 31 
Plain of the Saone, 48-52 
Plaster, 122 
Plaster of Paris, 149 
Plums, 82, 99 , 

Poitiers, 100 

Poitou, 23, 26, 97-98, 197 
Poles, 134 

Pont-a-Mousson, 132, 141 
Porcelain, 65, 137, 183, 184, 186 
Potassium, 146 
Potatoes, 40, 65, 89 
Poultry, 50, 78 
Pre- Alps, 18, 39, 42, 44, 53 
Precious stones, 46 
Prehistoric man, ']^, 145 
Provence, 22, 25, 33-35, 43, 55, 

156 
Puteaux, 153 
Puy-de-D6me, 62 
Puymorens, 73 
Pyrenees, 17, 18, 20, 24, 27, 

31, 61, 68-73, 74, 79, 81, 

165-166, 174, 175, 194, 202 

Quaternary Age, 48, 139 
Quercy, 77 
Queyras, 42, 43 

Railways, 206, 216 
Re, 76 

Reims, 123, 124, 127, 178 
Renaissance, 100, 155 
Rennes, 90 
Resin, 80 
Reunion, 213 
Revolution, 147 



Rice, 217, 218 

Riviera, 35 

Rhine, 21, 28, 44, 52, 113, 139, 

143, 144, 145, 146 
Rhdne, 20, 24, 34, 39, 46, 48, 

52, 54, 55, 56, 168, 175, 178, 

184, 201, 207, 210, 211 
Rhone-Rhine Canal, 144, 209 
Roanne, 63, 64, 178, 209 
Rochefort, 76 
Rock salt, 45, 142, 182 
Rocky Mountains, 169 
Romagne, 131, 134 
Roman Empire, 55 
Roman occupation, 214 
Roman period, 106, 151, 155 
Roman remains, 54 
Roman roads, 119, 144 
Roman ruins, 31, 52 
Rome, 33 

Romorantin, 97, 177 
Roncevaux, 71 
Ronchamp, 160 
Roquefort cheese, 67 
Roscoff, 26, 88 
Roubaix, no, in, 180 
Rouen, 104, 105, 106, 179 
Roussillon, 201 
Roy at, 62 
Rubber, 64, 182, 186, 216, 217, 

218 
Rue de Rivoli, 152 
Rulers, 46 

Russia, 35, 176, 188, 190 
Rye, 40, 61, 65, 89 

Sahara, 212 
Saint-Brieuc, 87 
Saint-Claude, 46 
Saint-Denis, 153 
Saint-Denis Canal, 153, 154 
Saint-Die,. 1 38 
Saint-Dizier, 173 
Saint-Etienne, 60, 64, 161, 167, 

174, 178, 184 
Sainte-Genevieve, 151 
Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 155 
Saint- Junien, 65 



THE INDEX 



237 



Saint-Malo, 87, 88 
Saint-Maur, 153 
Saint-Mihiel, 131 
Saint-Nazaire, 94 
Saint-Omer, 108 
Saint-Ouen, 153 
Saint-Pierre, 212, 213 
Saint-Quentin, 116, 118 
Saint-Quentin Canal, 208 
Salers, 62, 194 
Sambre, 115, 207 
San Francisco, 86 
Santerre, 115 
Sadne, 28, 44, 48-52, 54, 55, 56, 

59, 64, 140, 146, 149, 161, 173, 

207, 209, 211 
Sa6ne-Rh6ne, 204 
Saone-Rhdne Depression, 22, 48- 

55. 
Sardines, 88 
Sarralbe, 142 
Sarrebruck, 142 
Sarreguemines, 142 
Sarthe, 99 
Sautemes, 83 
Saverne, 143, 145, 146 
Scandinavian timber, 104 
Scarpe, 112, 207 
Secondary Age, 123 - 
Second Empire, 212 
Sedan, 131, 178 
Segalas, 66 
Seine, 52, 97, 103, 104, 121, 148, 

149, 151, 152, 153, 179, 207 
Senegal, 212, 216, 217 
Sevres, 153 
Sheep, 37, 42, 58, 66, 72, 97, 

126, 175-176, 192, I93» 214 
Shenandoah, 46 
Sicily, 213 
Silk, 46, 53, 59, 60, 175, 176, 178, 

179, 184, 218 
Silkworm, 175 
Simplon, 47 
Soda, 88 
Soissonnais, 118-121, 124, 149, 

189, 191 
Sologne, 98, 117 



Somme, 115 

Somport, 71, 73 

Songkoi, 218 

South America, 217 , 

Spain, 18, 68, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 

179, 213, 215 
Spaniards, 202, 214 
Steel, 171, 172, 174 
Strasbourg, 26, 144, 145, 146 
Strawberries, 53 
Subalpine depression, 39, 42 
Sud^n, 212, 216 
Sugar beets, 63, no, 115, 122, 

189 
Sugar-cane, 35 
Sugar factories, 116, 122, 182, 

198 
Swine, 93 
Switzerland, 41, 44, 47, 55, 76, 

146 
Syria, 42 

Tahiti, 216 

Tamatave, 217 

Tanneries, 65, 78, 182, 184 

Tarare, 60, 178 

Tarbes, 79, 195 

Tarentaise, 68, 195 

Tarn, 66 

Tea, 218 

Tertiary Age, 18, 20, 48,"^90, 

123, 148 iU 

Textile industry, 92, 105, 116, 

136, 146, 175-180, 182, 183, 

184, 185 
Thermopylae, 128 
Thiaucoiirt, 132 
Thionville, 141 
Third Republic, 212 
Tobacco, 39, 82, 144, 145, 189 
Tonking, 218 
Toul, 132 
Toulon, 35 

Toulouse, 73, 75, 81-82 
Touraine, 27, 97-98 
Tourcoing, no, in, 180 
Toumon, 52, 53 
Tours, 100 



238 



THE INDEX 



Touya, 79 

Trouville, 103 

Troyes, 126, 177 

Truffles, 77 

Tulle, 65 

Tungsten, 174 

Tunisia, 199, 212, 214, 215 

Turin, 41 

Tyrol, 41 

United States, 87, 95, 176, 190 
University of Paris, 155, 156 
Utah, 20, 73 

Valence, 53, 54 
Valenciennes, 113, 114 
Vanadium, 174 
Vanilla, 217 
Vaux, 129 
Velay, 62, 63, 195 
Vendee, 92-93, 190, 197 
Verdun, 127, 131, 133 
Versailles, 153 
Vesle, 119 
Vichy, 64 
Vienna, 18 
Vienne, 99, 165, 178 
Vierzon, 97 
Vignoble, 45 
Villers-Cotterets, 121 
Vimy Ridge, 112 
Vincennes, 153 



Vine, 33, 39, 41, 43, 46, 76, 124, 
143, 145, 149, 198-205, 214 

Vineyards, 27, 33, 51, 63, -j-], 82, 
83, 99, 120, 124, 133, 142 

Vivarais, 59, 175^ 

Volcanic mountains, 20, 61-63 

Volcanoes, 20, 58 

Vosges, 20-21, 27, 28, 44, 48, 49, 
55, 72, 95. 123, 136, 137, 
138-140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 
145, 146, 159, 164, 179, 183, 
189 

Walnut, 27 

Watches, 46 

West Indies, 212 

Westphalia, 113 

Wheat, 78, 82, 92, 99, 102, 104, 

no, 116, 119, 121, 187-191 
White coal, 40, 43, 164-168 
William II, 126 
Woevre, 132 
Wool, 105, no, 116, 146, 175- 

176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 182 
Woolen industry, 53, 67, 78, no, 

126, 146, 177 
Woolen mills, 78 

Yonne, 148, 149 
Ypres, 108 
Yser, 109 



M g, n 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

030 227 778 3 






mm 




